New Delhi: Just days after it was reported that China had withdrawn its support for Pakistan at the crucial Financial Action Task Force meeting, the Asian giant has come out in support of its ally and said that “Pakistan has made important progress in actively strengthening financial regulations”.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said that “the Pakistani government and its people have contributed and sacrificed enormously for the fight against terrorism. Their hard efforts, both in terms of ground operations and in the field of terrorism financing, are there for all to see.”
The FATF, which includes 37 nations, in its plenary meeting last week in Paris is said to have pushed for Pakistan to be on its grey list of nations where terrorist outfits are still allowed to raise funds. While the FATF document as of now does not mention Pakistan categorically, it is almost certain that the official announcement of the same will be made in June later this year.
Kang further said that China has been asking all relevant parties to evaluate Pakistan’s efforts.
“We’ve been calling on all relevant parties of the international community to view and evaluate Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts in an objective and fair way, instead of just pointing fingers at Pakistan out of bias. As an all-weather strategic cooperative partner for Pakistan, China will continue to enhance communication, coordination and cooperation with Pakistan on counter-terrorism,” the spokesperson said.
The United States of America is said to have pushed for an unprecedented discussion on Pakistan after China, Saudi Arabia (representing Gulf Cooperation Council) and Turkey opposed the Islamic republic being placed on the FATF grey list. The US, however, pushed it and all countries, except Turkey, agreed to withdraw support to Pakistan.
When asked about China withdrawing support to Pakistan which ultimately led to the latter being placed on the grey list, Kang said that China recognises Pakistan’s contributions in the field of terrorism financing.
“In recent years, Pakistan has made important progress in actively strengthening financial regulations to combat terror financing. China highly recognizes that and hopes all relevant parties of the international community could arrive at an objective and fair conclusion on that,” he said.
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