China sought security plan from Pakistan, stopped CPEC funding: sources

China has sought a concrete security plan from Pakistan after expressing displeasure over the security lapses besides stopping the funding for different projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), informed sources told News360.

The upcoming visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reportedly been postponed after Beijing expressed displeasure over the security lapses following a horrific suicide blast in Karachi University (KU), said the sources, adding that China refused to rely on the security measures adopted by Pakistan.

Sources added that the Chinese administration sought a concrete security plan from Pakistan for the CPEC projects. Beijing believed that the KU suicide blast was carried out by the United States (US) through an Indian proxy to target Chinese installations in Pakistan, sources revealed.

It may be noted here that the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng had said on Friday that the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States (US) would bring horrible consequences and push the Asia-Pacific over the edge of an abyss if left unchecked.

‘Asia-Pacific version of NATO expansion’

Accusing the US of expanding NATO into the Indo-Pacific and “flexing its muscle on China’s doorstep”, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said that the Americans over the years have been inflaming the Taiwan question to test the country’s “red line”.

The Chinese minister made the remarks while delivering a speech at an online dialogue of global think tanks of 20 countries, Xinhua reported a few days ago.

Le claimed that for quite some time, the US has kept flexing its muscle on China’s doorstep, creating exclusive groups against China and inflaming the Taiwan question to test China’s red line, the report said.

“If this is not an Asia-Pacific version of NATO’s eastward expansion, then what is? Such a strategy, if left unchecked, would bring horrible consequences and push the Asia-Pacific over the edge of an abyss,” Le said.

The Chinese minister further claimed that China is committed to peaceful development and seeks harmony, solidarity, and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, adding that, China has never been a provocateur or troublemaker.

“It makes no sense to take aim at China. The attempt to “copy and paste” the Ukraine crisis in the Asia-Pacific is doomed to fail,” Le said according to Xinhua.

Talking about the ongoing war in Ukraine, and China’s position on the conflict, Le said that some people have twisted the words of the recent China-Russia joint statement and misinterpreted “friendship has no limits and cooperation has no forbidden areas” to mean that China had “prior knowledge” of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and even “endorsed” it.

“This is absurd,” Le said, adding that China is not involved in the conflict, still less the one who created it. So how could China be responsible? “The truth is, China desires friendly relations with all countries and we never set any limit on cooperation, nor do we see a need to do so,” he further said.