Chinese Foreign Ministry says US should refrain from commenting on Pak-China ties

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IANS | 27 Sep, 2022
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday said that the US better help Pakistan with "real action" instead of commenting on the bilateral ties between Islamabad and Beijing, media reports said.

The statement came in response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's statement, urging Pakistan to seek debt relief from its close partner China as floods devastate the country, Geo News reported.

"The US had better help Pakistani people with real action rather than just commenting on China-Pakistan cooperation," Wang Wenbin said in a statement, Geo News reported.

Blinken promised strong US support for Pakistan as it dries out from the floods, which have submerged one-third of the country, an area the size of the UK.

"We send a simple message. We are here for Pakistan, just as we were during past natural disasters, looking ahead to rebuild," Blinken said after talks in Washington with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

"I also urged our colleagues to engage China on some of the important issues of debt relief and restructuring so that Pakistan can more quickly recover from the floods," he said, Geo News reported.

China is a key economic and political partner of Pakistan, pushing ahead with a $54 billion "economic corridor" that will build infrastructure and give Beijing an outlet to the Indian Ocean, although Chinese interests have also faced attacks from separatists.

Washington, whose Cold War alliance with Islamabad has frayed, has repeatedly charged that China will reap the benefits while Pakistan will face unsustainable debt.