China supports Pak again, opposes US ‘finger pointing’

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ China today said it is opposed to the US “finger pointing” at Pakistan and linking it with terrorism, insisting that the responsibility of cracking down on terror outfits cannot be placed on a particular country.

China’s support for its all-weather ally came as the US stepped up its efforts to pressure Pakistan to eliminate terror safe havens on its soil. The US last week suspended approximately USD 2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan for its failure to take decisive action against terror groups like the Taliban and the Haqqani Network.

“China always opposed linking terrorism with any certain country and we dont agree to place the responsibility of anti terrorism on a certain country,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing. He was responding to a question on a White House official’s remarks that China could play helpful role in convincing Pakistan that it was in its national interest to crackdown on terror safe havens.

“We have stressed many times that Pakistan has made important sacrifices and contributions to the global anti terrorism cause,” Lu said. “Countries should strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation on the basis of mutual respect instead of finger pointing at each other. This is not conducive to the global terrorism efforts,” he said. China has been vocal in extending support to Pakistan since US President Donald Trump increased rhetoric against Islamabad providing safe havens for terrorists.