HOW many deaths give a single life meaning? In Pakistan, even the massacre of 150 APS students and teachers in Peshawar in 2014 was not enough. They have become a statistic. To the Chinese, every national is priceless. This was brought to the fore at a conference in Islamabad on Oct 29 to celebrate China’s 75 years of ‘Progress, Transformation and Global Leadership’.

During the conference, Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar dilated for over an hour on Pak-China ties. Deviating from his prepared text, he made some unguarded remarks suggesting that President Xi Jinping, during his meeting with our PM, had told him that China regarded Pakistan as an exception in matters of the security of Chinese nationals.

Dar told his audience: “The Chinese are very clear; no matter how lucrative an investment is anywhere, if the security issue is there, they do not send Chinese personnel. Your country is the only exception.”

Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong publicly contradicted Mr Dar’s recollection of the PM/Xi meeting, insisting that for Beijing, “Security is the biggest concern”. Jiang continued: “It is unacceptable for us to be attacked twice in only six months,” and urged Pakistan to take action against “all anti-China........

© Dawn