China has warned its citizens in Pakistan to keep a low profile, saying it has received intelligence reports of plans for "imminent" terror attacks.
The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad posted the unusual alert on its website because Beijing is investing more than $60 billion on infrastructure and energy projects in Pakistan. The investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, known as CPEC, is bringing a large number of Chinese nationals to the country, working on the projects and undertaking private businesses.
"It is understood that terrorists plan in the near term to launch a series of attacks against Chinese organizations and personnel in Pakistan," said the embassy statement.
It did not provide details on the nature of the terrorist threat but urged all Chinese nationals to enhance personnel security, limit outdoor trips as much as possible and avoid crowded public places.
The statement asked Chinese nationals to cooperate with police and the military in Pakistan and to alert the embassy in the event of an emergency.
Pakistani officials have not yet commented on the Chinese terror warning.
Officials estimate that 20,000 Chinese are in Pakistan, where China and its companies are in progress with 300 projects. More than 9,000 of them are working under CPEC, the flagship project of Beijing's Road and Belt Initiative.
The Pakistan army has trained and deployed a special security force of more than 15,000 personnel to safeguard CPEC projects and Chinese nationals working on them.
Assassination plot reported
In October, the Chinese Embassy, through an official, informed the Pakistan Ministry of Interior that a member of the anti-China terrorist network known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) had sneaked into the country with a mission to assassinate the Chinese ambassador. The letter also urged Pakistani authorities to beef up security for Chinese companies and nationals.
ETIM leaders and militants allegedly receive training and other support from militant sanctuaries in border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Beijing has long pressed authorities in both the neighboring countries to crack down on suspected ETIM fugitives.
The outlawed militant organization claims to be fighting for the rights of the Uighur Muslim minority in China in the western region of Xinjiang and allegedly is behind the unrest there.
In June, Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing two kidnapped Chinese teachers in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan.
In addition to the Chinese warning, the U.S. has issued a security alert for Pakistan in the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The alert temporarily restricts the movement of U.S. government employees in Pakistan.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied accusations that it harbors terror groups and has blamed extremists crossing over from Afghanistan and India for attacks in Pakistan.
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