China backs Pakistan after Trump’s scathing attack

• Beijing says world community should acknowledge Pakistan’s ‘outstanding contribution’ in fight against terrorism

BEIJING: China on Tuesday rushed to Pakistan’s rescue after US President Donald Trump’s threatening tweet on New Year’s Day in which he accused Pakistan of giving Washington “nothing but lies and deceit”, announcing that the country will not get any aid in future.

China said the world community should acknowledge its all-weather ally’s “outstanding contribution” to counter terrorism.

In a scathing attack on Pakistan, Trump had accused it of “lies and deceit” and of fooling US leaders while sheltering terrorists.

“Pakistan has made enormous efforts and sacrifice for the fight against terrorism and has made a very outstanding contribution to the global cause of counter-terrorism. The international community should acknowledge that” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said here when asked about Trump’s criticism of Pakistan.

He said China is glad to see Pakistan engaging in international cooperation, including counter-terrorism, on the basis of mutual respect so as to contribute to regional peace and stability.

“China and Pakistan are all-weather partners. We stand ready to promote and deepen our all-around cooperation so as to bring benefits to the two sides,” Geng said.

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump had tweeted yesterday.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”, he concluded.

Asked whether Trump’s criticism would affect China’s efforts to bring peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Geng said “We believe as neighbours China, Pakistan and Afghanistan are closely linked not only geographically but also in terms of common interests. It is natural for us to enhance communication and exchanges”.

He said during the December 26 trilateral meet, the three countries “reached a lot of consensuses” on cooperation. This included the three nations enhancing cooperation on counter-terrorism and fighting against terrorism in all forms and manifestations. “The parties will enhance cooperation in this regard,” Geng said.

Pakistan responded to Trump’s intimidating tweet with one voice, as it lodged a strong protest by summoning US Ambassador David Hale to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and serving him a demarche over the US president’s tweet.

Foreign Office summoned US Ambassador David Hale on Monday night and lodged a protest against Trump’s tweet. The US Embassy confirmed that Ambassador Hale was summoned by the Foreign Office at 9:00 pm.

“David Hale was informed that all the state institutions stood united over Trump’s threats. The envoy was informed that there was no truth in the allegations levelled by the US president. The envoy was also told that there was no truth in US president’s assertion about US aid to Pakistan and that Pakistan had taken all these allegations seriously,” well-placed sources informed Pakistan Today.