bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Liu Zhen

Kinling Lo

Mimi Lau

China’s embassy in Islamabad has warned Chinese organisations and nationals in Pakistan to be on alert for potential terror attacks.
The embassy said it had been informed that terrorists were planning “a series of attacks soon” against Chinese, according to a statement released on Friday.
“The embassy alerts all Chinese organisations and citizens in Pakistan to stay vigilant, safeguard personal security, reduce time spent outside and avoid going to crowded places as much as possible,” the statement said.
Chinese should cooperate with Pakistani police and military and contact the Chinese embassy if necessary, it added.
Islamic State kills two Chinese teachers kidnapped in Pakistan, agency says
The embassy would not give further details when contacted by the South China Morning Post.
In June, Islamic State said it had killed two Chinese citizens it kidnapped.
The Pakistani interior ministry said the two Chinese had claimed to be learning the Urdu language from a Korean national in Jinnah town in Quetta but “were actually engaged in preaching”.
Quetta is the capital of Balochistan province, which is at the centre of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – the biggest single project under Beijing’s belt and road trade and infrastructure plan. The project includes plans for roads, railways and gas pipelines linking China’s far west hinterland of Xinjiang to the China-operated port of Gwadar on Pakistan’s southern coast.
The secret lives of Chinese missionaries in northern Iraq
Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported in October that the Chinese embassy had alleged that a member of Uygur separatist group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement had “sneaked into Pakistan” and posed a threat to Sun Weidong, who was the Chinese ambassador at the time.
The embassy had shared that information in a letter to Pakistan’s interior ministry that was leaked to the media. It included a request for more security for Chinese in Pakistan, and for the alleged terrorist to be arrested and handed over to China.
China has long worried that Uygur militants receive training in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria, then return to the restive Xinjiang region to plot attacks. There are also fears that Chinese projects along the CPEC could be a target for extremists, even though the Pakistani government promised to deploy 15,000 troops for security.
A Chinese man who has been living in Islamabad for three years said the embassy rarely issued security warnings.
“So I feel like this is something serious,” the man, who would only give his surname Liu, said.
Liu, who works for a Chinese financial company, said he had received messages and warnings in the past from other Chinese firms.
“We’re often being warned [in those messages] that Chinese will be targeted because of our growing presence in the country, and that we face security risks not only from the conflicting Muslim groups in the country, but also from India and the West,” Liu said.
He was not worried about his personal safety, but said his company had stepped up security measures after the embassy issued the warning. Chinese staff at his company were told they would be given new guidelines on how and when to travel to the office.
China flags 'fight' against terrorism as it confirms for first time Islamic State has executed hostage Fan Jinghui
Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said it was impossible to know what kind of information the Chinese embassy received to prompt such a warning. But he noted that it came after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Wednesday.
“It is expected that this will trigger a wave of strong reactions from Pakistan, although any attacks wouldn’t target Chinese, but many foreign companies and embassies are located in the same areas, so the Chinese embassy will be on alert at the moment,” Li said.
After the two Chinese were killed earlier this year, Beijing accelerated its security plans to protect the more than 30,000 Chinese nationals living in Pakistan, he said, adding that there had been occasional attacks by separatist groups in Balochistan and Sindh, where China has invested billions to build the Gwadar port and roads.
“The entire country is still high risk for Chinese people,” he said.
A researcher at a government think tank in Beijing who declined to give his name said Chinese embassies were increasingly becoming targets for terrorists. “If the August 2016 attack on the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan was any indication, diplomatic and company premises are easy targets for terrorists – especially in places where they find it difficult to operate,” he said.


5 killed in latest clash at Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossing

Marcos family scandal, Singapore becomes Plan B for Chinese travellers: 7 Asia highlights

India’s Modi to pitch arms deal to Russia, Putin despite US efforts

Pakistan rejects UN warning over legal immunity for military chief

Pakistan

China’s embassy in Pakistan warns of ‘series of terror attacks soon’ on its nationals

Pakistani soldiers in Peshawar after an attack by Taliban militants on December 1. The Chinese embassy says it has been informed that terrorists are planning “a series of attacks soon” against Chinese. Photo: AFP

Islamic State killings: sign of things to come for China in Pakistan?

A soldier stands guard near the site where two Chinese-language teachers were kidnapped by gunmen in Quetta, Pakistan. Photo: Reuters

A Pakistani man injured during the kidnapping of a Chinese couple receives medical treatment at a hospital in Quetta on May 24, 2017. Two Chinese nationals working in Pakistan were kidnapped May 24, local police and China's state media said, in an attack which could raise safety concerns for Beijing's multi-billion dollar investment in the country. / AFP PHOTO / BANARAS KHAN

A Pakistani Naval personnel stands guard beside a ship carrying containers during the opening of a trade project in Gwadar port, some 700 kms west of Karachi on November 13, 2016. Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 13 opened a trade route linking the southwestern post of Gwadar to the Chinese city of Kashgar as part of a joint multi-billion-dollar project to jumpstart economic growth in the South Asian country. / AFP PHOTO / AAMIR QURESHI

Pakistani soldiers stand guard at the site where a Chinese couple was kidnapped in the neighbourhood of Jinnah town in Quetta on May 24, 2017. Two Chinese nationals working in Pakistan were kidnapped May 24, local police and China's state media said, in an attack which could raise safety concerns for Beijing's multi-billion dollar investment in the country. / AFP PHOTO / BANARAS KHAN

Posters of Chinese and Pakistani leaders in Islamabad. Photo: AP

This photograph taken on April 13, 2016, shows a general view of the dockside at the port of Gwadar, some 700kms west of Karachi. 3A multi-million dollar port being developed by China in Pakistan is set to be at "full operation" by the end of the year, a Chinese official said, part of Beijing's ambitious economic plans in the region. Gwadar port, on Pakistan's southwest coast, will see roughly one million tonnes of cargo going through it by 2017, said Zhang Baozhong, chairman of the Chinese public company in charge of the development. / AFP PHOTO / Sarah TITTERTON

China says teachers kidnapped in Pakistan are likely dead

Pakistani police copies of the passport and entry visa for Lu Ling Ling, one of the abductees. Photo: EPA

News

China

Diplomacy

Anti-terrorism expert says country where China has invested billions in infrastructure projects is high risk for Chinese


Terrorism