China tells citizens in Pakistan to be on guard

Beijing, July 10: China told its citizens in Pakistan today to be careful and urged Pakistan to punish gunmen who killed three Chinese workers and wounded one.

The four men, who worked for a motorcycle company, were ambushed as they were leaving their factory on the outskirts of Peshawar on Sunday -- becoming the latest in a growing list of Chinese citizens working in volatile countries who have suffered attacks.

China is a long-time ally of Pakistan, but the Foreign Ministry set aside niceties in responding to the deaths.

''We have urged the Pakistani side to seek the truth and punish the criminals and to effectively strengthen the protection to Chinese citizens there,'' spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference in Beijing.

''We also remind Chinese citizens to be more vigilant and enhance awareness of self-protection.'' This was not the first time Chinese workers have been attacked in Pakistan.

Three Chinese technicians working on a port project in Pakistan were killed in a bomb attack in 2004. And Islamist militants kidnapped two Chinese engineers working on a dam that same year. One was killed during the rescue operation that freed the other.

The attacks on Chinese workers overseas have been increasing as China steps up its investment around the world, including in many poor countries that Western businesses find unrewarding or too dangerous.

On Friday, rebels in Niger accused a Chinese nuclear company of helping to fund the government arms purchases to suppress their uprising and kidnapped a Chinese executive.

Pakistani forces stormed a mosque compound today, killing about 50 militants, as they fought their way through an Islamic school where they believed a rebel cleric was hiding with women and children hostages.

Reuters>