Tag: Chinese Embassy

  • Fact Check: All Confucius Chinese learning centers except NUML are shutting down

    Fact Check: All Confucius Chinese learning centers except NUML are shutting down

    Claim: All Confucius Chinese learning centers have shut down in Pakistan in the wake of the University of Karachi bomb blast in which three Chinese nationals were killed.

    Fact: All Confucius Chinese learning centers except the one in NUML are shutting down as most Chinese educators have gone back to China. Remaining classes for the current session have been shifted online.

    On May 15, right-wing activist and journalist Orya Maqbool Jan with 477.2K followers on Twitter, shared a tweet claiming that all five Confucius centers in Pakistan are being shut down in the aftermath of the University of Karachi bombing by Shari Baloch. The female suicide bomber targeted three Chinese nationals working at the Confucius Institute of the University of Karachi.

    On May 17, The News posted an article quoting Zhang Heqing, the Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Islamabad, stating that all centers are operating and that China will continue to increase educational support sent towards Pakistan. After the article in the English daily, social media users started “fact checking” Orya Maqbool Jan, including Naya Daur andUrdu News, using The News’ article to back up their claim that none of the Confucius centers are shutting down.

    Team Current decided to verify this widely spread news and we discovered that except for the Confucius center inside National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad, all other centers – in Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi and Bahawalpur, are on their way to shutting down for the foreseeable future.

    We got in touch with Babar Saleem, the accounts officer at the University of Karachi Confucius center, who confirmed on call that outside these five centers the Chinese government had set up a few classes in PItaro as well. But since all Chinese educators have already gone back to China, the current session in these centers have been changed from in person to online and after the current session ends, all activities at the center have been cancelled.

    Verdict: 90% TRUE (since the learning center at NUML will remain open)

  • Female suicide bomber is a double masters, mother of two: Who is Shari Baloch?

    Female suicide bomber is a double masters, mother of two: Who is Shari Baloch?

    The 30-year-old Shari Baloch committed a suicide bombing near the Confucius Institute of Karachi University on April 26. In the suicide attack, she targeted four people including Chinese nationals and a van driver, reports Independent Urdu.

    She was an educated woman who belonged from Kech, Balochistan. She had been with Balochistan Students Organisation-Azad (BSO Azad) since college. She later joined the separatist movement of the Majeed Brigade of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). She completed her master’s degree in education from Allama Iqbal Open University in 2014

    However, as per Urdu news reported that he completed a bachelor’s in Education (B.Ed) in 2014 and earned a Master’s degree in education in 2018. Later, she also earned a master’s degree in Zoology. As per her allegedly Twitter account, she has done M.Phil in education as well. She was married to a doctor and have two children together, one son and a daughter. She was teaching in a government school in Balochistan but the school did not confirm it yet.

    Her relative revealed to a reporter that most of the family members are part of the bureaucracy.

    According to her relative, “It is being said on social media that some members of Shari Baloch’s family went missing so she took such a step to take revenge but not a single person in her family has gone missing to date. She was ideologically committed to it, so maybe she took such a step.”

    Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Raja Umar Khattab also confirmed that it was the suicide attack that was carried out by a female clad-in-burqa. Police also released CCTV footage in which Shari Baloch was standing near the gate of the Confucius Institute. She blew up when a van was about to enter the institute at 1:52 pm.

    [TRIGGER WARNING] VIDEO MAY BE SENSITIVE TO SOME AUDIENCE

    https://twitter.com/Irumf/status/1518929328502890496

    Four people lost their lives including three Chinese nationals and a driver while three people survived from injuries including Ranger personnel, one Chinese national, and a security guard. The injured people were taken to a nearby hospital

    The deceased three Chinese nationals are identified as Prof. Huang GuiPing, Ding Mufang, and Chen Sai while Wang Yuqing received injuries.

    Later, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) took the responsibility for the suicide attack near the Confucius Institute.

    A spokesperson of BLA spokesman said, “Shari joined the Majeed Brigade two years ago and six months ago she confirmed that she was determined to carry out the attack. She has been active in her mission ever since.”

    A tweet from her husband, Habitan Bashir Baloch also came to light for appreciating his wife’s selfless act.

    He penned down, “Shari Jan, your selfless act has left me speechless but I am also beaming with pride today. Mahroch and Meer Hassan will grow into very proud humans thinking what a great woman their mother was. You will continue to remain an important part of our lives.

    https://twitter.com/HabitanB/status/1519041873691791362?t=-m4FM_PQuDEQQYY2WTSe1g&s=08

    “The police had received reports regarding security threats to Chinese nationals and security was also provided to them, however, no intelligence report of suicide attack through a female bomber was received,” the top police official said while speaking on Geo News program Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath.

    China has strongly condemned the recent suicide attack on Karachi University and extended deep condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims.

    In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, “The government of the People’s Republic of China expresses strong condemnation and indignation over this major terrorist attack and extends deep condolences to the victims and sympathies to the injured and bereaved families.”

    Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Jianghao called the Pakistan Ambassador to China Moinul Haque and demanded that Pakistan should immediately make a thorough investigation into the tragic incident, and apprehend and punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law. “We expect that Pakistan will take all possible measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens living across Pakistan and to avoid the recurrence of such cowardice incidents happening again.”

    Moin ul Haque, in a message, said, “The entire nation is in shock and mourns the loss of these precious lives including our Chinese friends.”

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif also visited the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad after the incident to offer condolence over the incident.

    PM said, “The blood of the Chinese people should not be shed in vain, and those behind this incident will surely pay the price.”

  • Exclusive: PM Shehbaz says next army chief will be appointed as per rules, regulations

    Exclusive: PM Shehbaz says next army chief will be appointed as per rules, regulations

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday called the PM House a ‘Jamhoori House’ (Democratic House) and said that his government believed in media freedom. In an interaction with journalists at the PM House on April 26, Sharif said that the previous government was not just incompetent and corrupt but had damaged the country’s economy and foreign relations. PM Shehbaz talked about several issues.

    New army chief

    PM said that he has the constitutional right to appoint a new army chief. He added that he will appoint the new army chief as per the constitution and rules and regulations when the time comes for his appointment. This was in response to a question about the appointment of a new army chief since General Bajwa will not take an extension as per DG ISPR.

    Pak-US relations

    While answering a question about Pakistan’s relationship with the US, PM said that the US is a superpower so we need to maintain good relations with them. “Amreeka dushmani hamaaray waaray nahin” (we cannot afford enmity with the US). He added that we need to do some stock-taking regarding Pak-US ties and improve relations with the US.

    Foreign Policy

    Talking about foreign relations, PM Shehbaz said that the previous government had alienated allies and friends. “How can we say that we can raise the Kashmir issue without Saudi Arabia?”

    PM said that the members of the previous government had lied about loans on 8% by China apart from allegations of corruption against Chinese investment by Pervez Khattak and several others in PTI. “China helped us get rid of load shedding by investing in power plants.”

    Saudi Visit

    PM will be visiting Saudi Arabia tomorrow (April 28-30) on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz. PM Shehbaz said that he is likely to meet the Saudi leadership during his visit.

    Load shedding

    He said that there there is no other reason for frequent load shedding other than the negligence of previous government for not buying LNG and furnace oil on time. He also criticised the previous government for its baseless allegations against the LNG contract signed by the previous PML-N government. He said that Qatar must have been amazed that instead of thanking them for such a good deal, PTI indulged in “ilzaam taraashi” [allegations].

    Economic crisis

    “Pakistan is going through one of the most difficult times. We are trying to take the country in the right direction. We have seen how Japan and Germany rebuilt their economies after tough times. We have the examples of South Korea and Bangladeshi economies too. Once upon a time, Pakistan had a better per capita income than China but look at us now. Our currency was better than India’s. When India was ahead of us in the steel industry, we were ahead of them in textiles.”

    “There is no point crying over spilt milk but now it is time to rebuild our economy,” said PM Shehbaz. He said that it will be a difficult challenge but is not impossible to bring back our lost place in the comity of nations by strengthening our economy. “Rome was not built in a day.”

    “If we were economically strong, our foreign policy would have been stronger.”

    PECA

    The PM was asked if roll back of PECA was on the cards, to which he said that his government believes in freedom of media and media will not have to face any curbs but they need to differentiate between truth and fake news. “Media should highlight our mistakes. We welcome that. But it should not spread fake news.”

    Missing files

    When asked that there are reports that some files have been taken by the previous government from the PM House regarding sugar scandal and other scandals, Shehbaz said that if he is given evidence about the missing files, he will find them.

    Accountability

    He said that in the name of accountability, there will be no revenge. “Ehtesaab ke naam par intiqaam nahin leinge,” said PM Shehbaz. He said that businessmen say they will not invest here because the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will either arrest them or harass them. “Businessmen kehte hain ya NAB giraftaar kar leinge ya zaleel kareinge unko.”

    Elections

    The PM said that we will go for elections after carrying out necessary reforms, especially electoral reforms.

    Threat letter

    PM Shehbaz said that the National Security Committee meeting issued a clear statement that there was no conspiracy. “The punchline of the statement was that there is no saazish, no conspiracy.”

    Shehbaz said that if the threat letter was received on March 7, why did the PTI government talk about it on March 28? “March tak moonh mein taalay kyun laga kar baithay thay?” He asked when did the previous government turn this letter into a conspiracy. “When they knew they were going to lose in parliament. There is no question of a conspiracy whatsoever.”

    Karachi attack

    “The attack in Karachi University is a huge tragedy where three Chinese nationals died. China is our friend. I went to the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad for solidarity,” said PM. He added that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah will go to Karachi on Wednesday (today) and help and coordinate with the Sindh government. “After our Saudi visit, we will hold a comprehensive meeting on security.”

    Afghanistan

    Afghanistan is not just our neighbour but our “baraadar mulk” (brother country). “If there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be peace in Pakistan. What is good for Afghanistan is good for Pakistan.”

    PTI resignations

    PM said that they have found out that many resignations were taken by force from PTI MNAs and were not given voluntarily. “We will know the truth when the legal process has been completed.” He was asked whether the government could convince PTI to take back its resignations to be an effective Opposition.

    PTI long march

    While answering a question about Imran Khan’s call for march to Islamabad, PM said that if they won’t do anything unlawful, nothing will happen to them but he won’t allow anyone to spread anarchy on the roads.

    Pak Army

    The PM said that the Pak Army has given a lot of sacrifices for this country. “It is wrong to say anything negative about Pakistan’s army. It is condemnable,” said the PM when responding to a question about social media trends against the army.

  • 12 dead as a bus carrying Chinese workers plunged into ravine

    12 dead as a bus carrying Chinese workers plunged into ravine

    Nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis lost their lives on Wednesday. Chinese workers and accompanying Pakistani staff were proceeding to their workplace for an ongoing project, as per a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). 

     “The bus plunged into a ravine after a mechanical failure resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast. Further investigations are underway,” said MoFA.

    “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is closely in contact with the Chinese Embassy for coordination and facilitation,” read the foreign affairs ministry’s statement.

    The ministry added, “The Government and people of Pakistan extend sincere condolences to the families of Chinese and Pakistani workers who lost their lives in the incident. We also pray for quick recovery of the injured.”

    The Foreign Office said Pakistan attaches great importance to the safety and security of “Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan”.