ISLAMABAD: A Chinese foreign ministry official said on Tuesday some media outlets had launched a smear campaign against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by playing up protests in Gwadar, reported Pakistan's APP state-owned news agency.
Gwadar is at the heart of the multibillion-dollar economic corridor project that aims to provide China a shorter, more secure trade route, via Pakistan, to the Middle East and beyond, while also boosting Pakistan’s economy.
Despite its strategic significance, the residents of the area have been demanding basic rights and action against illegal trawling in the Arabian Sea which they say has rendered local fisherfolk and others jobless.
The issue has also been reported by the international media.
"China firmly rejects certain media's attempts to smear the CPEC building and China-Pakistan relations," the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, Zhao Lijian, was quoted as saying by the APP agency. "This is completely fake news. Certain media's hyping up of the protests against China in Gwadar region lacks factual basis."
The APP report said Lijian denied the presence of any Chinese trawlers near Gwadar, adding that CPEC was not only focusing on development work but also trying to contribute to the livelihood of people.
Gwadar is located in Pakistan's sparsely populated southwestern Balochistan province where a large number of people are associated with the fishing business.
China says Gwadar protests deliberately played up by media outlets
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China says Gwadar protests deliberately played up by media outlets
- A senior foreign ministry official in Beijing denies the presence of any Chinese trawlers near the Pakistani deep-sea port
- Gwadar is located in Pakistan's sparsely populated Balochistan province where people are mostly associated with the fishing business
Gas leak claims lives of three women in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi — police
- Gas leaks are a recurring hazard in Pakistan during the winter season, resulting in explosions, fires and cases of asphyxiation
- Last week, a bride and a groom among eight people were killed because of a gas cylinder blast in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Three women suffocated because of a gas leak from a geyser at their home in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, police said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred inside the victims’ house located in Bahria Town Phase-7, according to Sub-inspector Imtiaz Nazir. Another woman was found unconscious at the scene.
“A 16-year-old girl was also affected and has been shifted to a hospital in critical condition, where she remains on a ventilator,” Nazir told Arab News.
“Investigation into the incident is underway, but initial findings indicate that the fatalities were caused by suffocation.”
Gas leaks and related accidents are a recurring hazard in Pakistan during the winter season, often resulting in explosions, fires and cases of asphyxiation that cause injuries and loss of life.
The risk tends to increase as households rely heavily on gas heaters, geysers, cylinders and stoves in poorly ventilated spaces.
Last week, a bride and a groom among eight people were killed because of a gas cylinder explosion in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, an official said. At least five people were killed in Pakistan’s southern Larkana city in a similar explosion in Dec., authorities said.
