The Pakistani interior minister vowed on Tuesday to attack the Chinese activists hiding in the tribal region of his country, an apparent attempt to curry favor with China at a time when his alliance with the United States extremely tense.Rehman Malik conveyed the strong show of support for Beijing after a meeting in Islamabad with China Public Security Minister Meng.
Meng Pakistan visit comes as relations with the United States have deteriorated over allegations that Islamabad supports the Afghan insurgents based in Pakistan's tribal areas.
Some Pakistani officials are hoping that China can fill the void diplomatic and economic, if Washington decides to cancel or downgrade ties with Islamabad.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, praised China, saying that the friendship between the two countries was "higher than mountains, deeper than the ocean, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey."
However, many analysts doubt that China is interested in replacing the billions of dollars in aid that Americans take every year in Pakistan.
Security and political ties between Pakistan and the United States to a head after nearly a senior U.S. military official, Admiral Mike Mullen, said last week that Pakistan's intelligence service helped the main activists who have carried out attacks against American targets in Afghanistan. Pakistani officials have denied the accusations and said that Washington is trying to use Pakistan as a scapegoat for the troubled war in Afghanistan.
However, China is also concerned about the spread of Islamist militancy in Pakistan.
Muslim militants in Xinjiang in western China is known to be training and fighting on the Pakistan side of the border from Afghanistan to Al Qaeda and other extremist networks internationally. They have claimed responsibility for attacks in China and issued statements threatening Beijing.
"We want to look very hard against them," said Malik. "Whoever is an enemy of China is an enemy of Pakistan."
It is unclear how Pakistan would do that. Most activists are expected to be in the tribal area of North Waziristan. Presence of the Pakistani army is there and the United States has repeatedly asked Islamabad to act against militants there. However, Pakistan has not launched an offensive against militants there.
Malik said Sunday that Islamabad had killed several militants and extradited to China, but did not say when or where
