China assures support to new govt in Pakistan

BEIJING: As election results making the picture clearer about Imran Khan’s PTI as the leading party in vote tally, China says it is ready to work with the new government in Pakistan.

China’s Global Times said in an op-ed on Friday however that it sees the new Pakistani government continuing to promote CPEC.

“It’s also foreseeable in the future that Western countries and media will continue to make an issue of the corridor and Chinese investment in Pakistan in an attempt to drive a wedge between China and Pakistan. The new Pakistani government should be particularly wise to this,” said the article in the media outlet run by People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:We are pleased to see that Pakistan has held a successful election. The China-Pakistan friendship receives heartfelt support and acclamation of the two peoples. pic.twitter.com/b8xVZhSqDY

— Chinese Emb Pakistan (@CathayPak) July 26, 2018

In a post-election address to the nation, Imran pledged to tackle corruption and touched on promises to strengthen and improve Pakistan’s relationship with neighbouring countries, including China.

“We will strengthen and improve our relations with China. We want to work towards success of CPEC. We also want to send teams to learn poverty alleviation from China,” Khan said.

Beijing welcomed the development and congratulated Islamabad on holding “successful election”. A foreign ministry spokesman said result of the election would not have an impact on the ties between the two countries.

“The China-Pakistan friendship receives heartfelt support and acclamation of the two peoples. Whatever the result of the election is, it won t affect the development of China-Pakistan relations,” it said.