Chinese teachers of Confucius Institute leave Pakistan
May 16, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 16 : China has recalled instructors teaching at the Confucius Institute of the University of Karachi, who left for their country, weeks after the Karachi blast resulted in the death of three Chinese nationals.
Back in 2013, the Confucius Institute at Karachi University was jointly established with Sichuan Normal University in China.
The institute aims to teach mandarin, and promote people-to-people exchanges between China and Pakistan.
This return of Chinese instructors to their home country comes against the backdrop of the suicide attack at the University of Karachi targeting Chinese nationals on April 26 outside the Confucius Institute. The suicide attack resulted in the death of four people, including three Chinese nationals.
The director of the department told Geo News on Sunday that the teachers at the different Confucius Institutes in the country, not just the University of Karachi, have been called back by China.
Director Dr Nasir Uddin said that the institute will not be closed, adding that Pakistani teachers are being asked to help in teaching Mandarin.
Last month, China's confidence in Pakistan's ability to protect the Chinese workers in the country was 'seriously shaken' after the attack on a minibus in Karachi.
"The Chinese confidence in Pakistan's security system's ability to protect their citizens and their projects is seriously shaken," Pakistani Senator Mushahid Hussain, the chairman of the Senate Defence Committee, told Dawn.
"It has caused serious concern and understandable indignation in China. More so, the pattern of attacks is so recurring and it's clear that Pakistani promises of 'foolproof security' are mere words, not matched by countermeasures on the ground," he maintained.
He had also slammed Pakistan's security system for being indolent and said that the security agencies seemed to have been caught napping.
"If such attacks continue, not just Chinese but other foreign investors will be forced to review their role in Pakistan," he added.
