China condemns killing of tutors in Pakistan blast
Three Chinese tutors and a Pakistani driver were killed in a Suicide bombing near Karachi University's Confucius Institute on Tuesday.
The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) said it carried out the attack.
The incident poses a key challenge for a government freshly-installed after weeks of political turmoil.
A long time ally and key investor in the country, China is heavily involved in large development projects across Pakistan. But the BLA, which is banned in Pakistan, opposes Chinese investment in the country, saying locals do not benefit.
"China expresses its strong condemnation, and great indignation at This major terrorist attack," deputy director of the Chinese foreign ministry Zhao Lijian tweeted on Wednesday.
He urged Pakistani authorities to "deal with the aftermath" and "resolutely fight against terrorist organisations involved in the case".
Top-level Pakistan officials have also scrambled to appease China since the incident.
New Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif made a personal visit to the Chinese embassy in Islamabad on Tuesday to meet with officials. In a rare move, He also presented them with a handwritten letter, reaffirming his government's commitment "to eliminating all militants and terrorists from Pakistani soil".
"We won't rest until the culprits are hunted down and given exemplary punishment," he wrote.
The chief minister of Sindh province - Karachi is the capital - also visited the Chinese consulate, reassuring officials that Pakistan "values the services rendered by Chinese experts in the country and the province" and that those involved would be "brought to justice".
In a statement, Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar termed the incident "reprehensible." and a "direct attack" on Pakistan and China relations.
Former prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted from power in early April, also weighed in, calling the incident "yet another attack with a specific agenda of trying to undermine Pakistan-China strategic relationship."
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