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Meredith Chen

The Chinese embassy in Pakistan has called on Islamabad to punish those responsible for a deadly attack on Chinese nationals near Jinnah International Airport in the southern city of Karachi on Sunday night.
At least two Chinese were killed and one Chinese and several Pakistanis were wounded on Monday morning.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday night that Beijing was “shocked” by the event.
“The Chinese side strongly condemns the attack and offers deep condolences for the victims,” it said.
“China calls on the Pakistan side to plug security loopholes and take specific action to protect the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Chinese nationals ... in Pakistan.”
It added that China was willing to work with Pakistan to quash any attempt to undermine relations between the two countries.


The Chinese embassy said that around 11pm on Sunday a “terrorist attack” was launched on vehicles of a China-funded electric power company.
The regional government of southern Sindh province said on X that a tanker had exploded on the airport motorway. Pakistani broadcaster Geo News said at least 10 people were hurt in the blast.
The company employing the attacked workers is involved in the Pakistan Port Qasim Power Project, around 37km (20 miles) southeast of Karachi.
The project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project under Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.
Separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said it carried out the attack using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeting “a high-level convoy of Chinese engineers and investors”.
The Chinese embassy demanded Islamabad “conduct a thorough investigation of the attack, and severely punish the perpetrators”.
“The Chinese embassy and consulates general in Pakistan strongly condemn this act of terrorism, express deep condolences for the victims from both countries, and extend sincere sympathies to the injured and their families,” it said, adding that the Chinese side had been working with Pakistani authorities in the aftermath.


In a post on X on Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was “deeply shocked and saddened by last night’s tragic incident” and “strongly [condemns] this heinous act”.
“The perpetrators of this dastardly incident cannot be Pakistanis but are sworn enemies of Pakistan,” he said, adding that an investigation was under way to “identify them and bring them to justice”.
Other parts of the CPEC have also been attacked this year, targeting Chinese nationals and China-affiliated projects in the South Asian country.
In March, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing five Chinese. Pakistan’s military claimed the assault was planned in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Before that, a naval airbase and a strategic port in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where China has invested billions in infrastructure projects, were attacked.
The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, the province bordering Afghanistan and Iran. In August, it launched coordinated attacks there, killing more than 70 people.

The group specifically targets Chinese interests, particularly in the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of aiding Islamabad in exploiting the province. It has previously killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing’s consulate in Karachi.
According to Lin Minwang, deputy director of Fudan University’s Centre for South Asian Studies, the violence against Chinese interests is not likely to be resolved if China maintains a strict non-intervention policy, because Pakistan does not have the capacity to eradicate the terrorist groups.
“China has been caught in the conflict between Islamabad and the separatist militants, and targeting Chinese interests has become a useful tool for the BLA,” he said.
Lin said the issue had persisted for around two decades, with the number of attacks surging after the economic corridor was established and the China factor “grew increasingly important in Pakistan’s internal politics”.


The withdrawal of US troops from neighbouring Afghanistan, where they had conducted counterterrorism measures, also contributed to the increase in attacks, he said.
Lin said any intervention by China would test its military abilities abroad and depend on Islamabad’s willingness, which appeared to be lacking.
“With no party prepared, this situation is likely to persist” even though economic ties between the two countries appeared likely to stay strong.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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