Pakistan Toes China's Line In Earthquake Condolence Message, Calls Tibet 'Xizang'... Again

Pakistan has again backed its "all-weather friend" China in asserting Tibet as its territory. In a condolence message for the lives lost in Tibet in the devastating earthquake on Tuesday, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar on Wednesday referred to the nation as "Xizang" — a term used by China for Tibet. Last year, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi issued a statement, saying: "China appreciates Pakistan's unswerving commitment to the one-China principle and firm support for China on the Taiwan question and issues relating to Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong." In 2023, Pakistani diplomat Khalil Hashmi, who was on a visit to Tibet, was quoted as saying by Chinese news agency Xinhua: "Xizang alone is a 1.2 million square kilometre space; it takes a huge political, economic and financial commitment to connect this vast region for its inhabitants, to put in place the infrastructure, including roads, bridges, trains, electricity, running water, schools, hospitals, and so on." In 2003, former Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee, during his visit to China, signed a joint declaration recognising the Tibet Autonomous Region as part of China's territory.