{"id":1633,"date":"2018-12-14T06:47:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T06:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/?p=1633"},"modified":"2018-12-17T08:40:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T08:40:07","slug":"chinese-presence-in-pakistan-is-targeted-in-strike-on-consulate-in-karachi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/chinese-presence-in-pakistan-is-targeted-in-strike-on-consulate-in-karachi\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Presence in Pakistan Is Targeted in Strike on Consulate in Karachi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese Presence in Pakistan Is Targeted in Strike on Consulate in Karachi<\/span><\/h1>\n

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KARACHI, Pakistan \u2014 In the most significant strike against Chinese interests in Pakistan in years, three militants assaulted the Chinese Consulate in the southern port city of Karachi on Friday morning, killing two police officers and two civilians at a checkpoint before being gunned down by security forces.<\/p>\n

On a day of violence that included a bombing that killed at least 30 people in northwestern Pakistan, the attack on the consulate in Karachi was a rare moment of upheaval for a tightening economic and strategic partnership between Pakistan and China.<\/p>\n

A Twitter account associated with the\u00a0Baluchistan Liberation Army<\/a>, a separatist group in the sprawling and violent province of Baluchistan, said that three of its members had \u201cembraced martyrdom\u201d in an attack on the Chinese Consulate. And a spokesman for the group was quoted by Reuters as accusing China of \u201cexploiting our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pakistan has been a showcase for China\u2019s\u00a0huge international development program, the \u201cOne Belt, One Road\u201d initiative<\/a>, in recent years. China is estimated to have spent some $62 billion on those projects in Pakistan, mostly to build a transportation corridor through Baluchistan to a\u00a0new, Chinese-operated deepwater port in the Pakistani town of Gwadar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The road corridor being built through Baluchistan, which is also rich in natural resources, is one of the most strategic projects associated with the Belt and Road initiative. Its stated purpose is to greatly reduce shipping costs and time for Chinese goods, but it would also give China an important alternative if faced with naval blockades by the United States or its Asian allies.<\/p>\n

Baluchistan has also been the center of two resilient insurgencies, making it one of the most sensitive areas for Pakistan\u2019s powerful military establishment:\u00a0Ethnic Baluch separatists there have been pursued by a stifling Pakistani security presence<\/a>, and part of the leadership of the Afghan Taliban also continues to take shelter there, in the city of Quetta.<\/p>\n

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In a video sent to an Indian news service in March, Aslam Baloch, a senior commander of the Baluchistan Liberation Army, accused China and Pakistan of plundering resources in Baluchistan, which his group wants to turn into an independent state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n