Islamabad, Mar 31: The recent terrorist attack on the Chinese engineers' vehicle is having consequences, said an analyst
The recent attack on Chinese workers in Pakistan has shaken their confidence and some of them are planning to leave the country, a security analyst said on Sunday. Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, said that the recent terrorist attack on the Chinese engineers' vehicle is having consequences. “Chinese companies have suspended work on at least three critical hydropower projects: the Dasu dam, the Diamer-Basha dam, and the Tarbela 5th Extension,” he wrote in an article published in Dawn.
Last Tuesday, the terrorist attacked a vehicle carrying Chinese engineers in Bisham tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Shangla. At least five Chinese nationals were killed in the attack, prompting Beijing to demand a “thorough investigation” from Islamabad.
“The attack has caused significant alarm. Apart from disrupting these vital infrastructure projects, it has shaken the confidence of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan. Reports indicate some are considering leaving the country due to safety concerns,” Rana wrote.
Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects being carried out under the aegis of the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The analyst said the Pakistani government has repeatedly pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice. However, the recent incident has eroded trust and Chinese social media reflects growing anxiety, with calls for stricter security measures to protect Chinese lives.
Whenever a major terrorist incident occurs in the country, the media, security experts, and even state institutions start to make sweeping generalisations and the first and most well-known excuse cited is foreign involvement in the attacks, especially those targeting Chinese nationals or CPEC-related projects, he said.
Highlighting what may be triggering the attack on Chinese nationals, Rana said Shangla, upper and lower Kohistan, and Battagram districts of the Hazara region in KP and the adjoining Diamer district in Gilgit-Baltistan share religious, social, tribal, ethnic, and cultural codes.
He said the region has been frequently in the news due to ‘honour' killings, burning of girls' schools, and the killing of Shia travellers. Recently, it has gained notoriety for attacks on Chinese workers involved in development projects in the area.
According to the analyst, many in the region believe that dams and wider roads will trigger urbanisation, women's emancipation, and modernisation, which they perceive as threats to their religion and culture. He said the dominant trend suggests that most people are happy with the compensation money and employment prospects.
“However, this doesn't diminish the level of religious extremism present. Some residents may sympathise with the Uighur community in Xinjiang, and others may dislike the presence of foreigners on their land. These factors could be nurturing negative perceptions about Chinese nationals in the region.”
