Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Tuesday said the US should help Pakistan in “real action” instead of commenting on bilateral relations between Islamabad and Beijing.
The statement came in response to US Secretary of State Anthony Blanken’s statement, which urged Pakistan to seek debt relief from close ally China as floods ravaged the country.
Wang Wenbin said in a statement, “It is better for the United States to help the Pakistani people in real action and not just comment on China-Pakistan cooperation.”
The US had better help Pakistani people with real action rather than just commenting on #China– #Pakistan cooperation, responding to US' calls for Pakistan to apply for debt relief from China: Chinese FM on Tue pic.twitter.com/Xdd1P76vuD
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) September 27, 2022
Blankenship pledged strong US support for Pakistan as it dries up from floods, which have submerged a third of the country, an area the size of Britain.
“We send a simple message. We are here for Pakistan, as we have been during past natural disasters, looking forward to rebuilding,” Blanken said after talks in Washington with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
“I also urged my colleagues to involve China in some important debt relief and restructuring matters so that Pakistan can emerge from the floods more quickly,” Blanken said.
China is a key economic and political partner of Pakistan, pushing ahead with a $54 billion “economic corridor” that would build infrastructure and give Beijing access to the Indian Ocean, although Chinese interests are also alienated. The likes have faced attacks.
Washington, which has a Cold War alliance with Islamabad, has repeatedly alleged that China will benefit while Pakistan faces unsustainable debt.
Warnings from the US – which sees China as its biggest global rival – have been repeatedly brushed aside by Pakistan.
Nearly 1,600 people – a third of them children – have been killed in Pakistan’s floods and more than 7 million displaced, amid fears that such extreme disasters will become more common due to climate change.
The United States has pledged $56 million in humanitarian aid and sent 17 planes full of supplies with long-term aid commitments.
