Xi Jinping presses Pakistan to improve security for Chinese workers

Islamabad: China on Tuesday pressed Pakistan to improve security for Chinese nationals who have been repeatedly attacked by militants while working on Beijing-funded multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects in the South Asian country.

Pakistan is a showcase for Chinese President Xi Jinping's global Belt and Road Initiative projects but security threats to Chinese workers in the country have become a source of tension between the close allies.

"China supports Pakistan's fight against terrorism and hopes Pakistan will take effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects, and institutions in Pakistan, creating a secure environment for bilateral cooperation," Xi said at a meeting with Pakistan's prime minister during a summit of the China-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, according to a readout from Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Xi was hosting more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries in the Chinese port city of Tianjin.

A statement from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said he met Xi but did not mention the security issue.

Sharif's statement said he reaffirmed a desire to implement the next phase of Belt and Road projects, adding, "This would help both countries build an even stronger Pakistan-China community with a shared future."

Pakistan has deployed tens of thousands of army troops, paramilitary units and police to protect Chinese projects and personnel. But Beijing has been pushing a reluctant Islamabad to allow its own security staff to operate in the country.

Pakistan's foreign and home ministries and the military did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.

China has built power plants and roads and developed the Pakistani Indian Ocean port of Gwadar over the last decade. But much of the planned $60 billion Chinese Belt and Road investment has been put on hold, partly due to security concerns. Both jihadists and separatists have targeted Chinese personnel.

Chinese projects have been hit particularly in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Gwadar is located, with separatists also stepping up attacks in recent months on Pakistani security forces in the region.

Late last year, a suicide bombing killed two Chinese engineers outside Karachi airport. In March 2024, a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam project in northwest Pakistan, killing five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver.

A 2021 bus bombing in the Dasu region where the dam project is situated killed 13 people, nine of them Chinese nationals.

Abdul Basit, Senior Associate Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said there had been an improvement in security for Chinese nationals in Pakistan, with no attacks since the airport bombing.

"I think that's where Xi is emphasising that, yes, no attack on Chinese lately, but the overall situation is bad and their projects are not going anywhere," Basit said.