China’s top state newspaper yesterday accused the US of flouting international law and fanning terrorism after a NATO attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, and it warned that Islamabad’s grip on security could be dangerously weakened.
The condemnation in the People’s Daily, the main newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, kept up Beijing’s angry words in support of its partner, Pakistan, after Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that “business as usual” with the US was over after the attack on Saturday.
NATO called the killings a “tragic, unintended incident,” and US officials said NATO and US investigations would determine what happened in the attack in northwest Pakistan.
However, the People’s Daily said the attack already laid bare deeper problems in the US approach to militant threats.
“Above all, we must be clear that the United States and NATO have trampled on international laws and rules,” a commentary in the newspaper said.
“The risk in fighting terror this way is that it will ignite latent sympathy and support for terrorism, as well as hurting many innocent people and damaging international law,” it said.
“The soil nurturing terrorism will become even more fertile, and the space for terrorism to spread even broader,” it added.
The commentary came after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei (洪磊) voiced “shock” over the assault, and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) offered Beijing’s “firm support” to Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar.
However, there are no signs as yet that China is prepared to go beyond rhetorical support to take on a bigger role as a security partner of troubled Pakistan.
The close ties between China and Pakistan reflect long-standing shared wariness of their common neighbor, India, and a desire to hedge against US influence across the region.
The People’s Daily commentary said the killings of the soldiers could inflict lasting damage.
“Islamabad’s grip on domestic security will also be weakened,” it said. “This will not only work against the war on terror, it could also leave the risk of long-term turmoil.”
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