Beijing’s foremost concern is to freeze the status quo
China on Thursday asked India and Pakistan to dial down tensions through talks.
Both nations should “refrain from aggravating the situation, to uphold regional peace and stability through dialogue at an early date, and China will continue to play a constructive role,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in his daily briefing.
Asked whether Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, who has concluded a two-day visit to Pakistan, had discussed elimination of “breeding grounds of terrorism” from Pakistani soil, Mr. Lu said the focus of the Chinese envoy’s visit was on preventing “aggravation” of tensions between India and Pakistan.
“Like I said Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, when in Pakistan, held in-depth talks on the situation and tension between India and Pakistan. So the major concern is the security situation in this region,” Mr. Lu said.
The spokesperson pointed out that China’s foremost concern was to freeze the status quo, and other issues could be tackled along a diplomatic spiral.
“Recently, a lot has happened in this region, and there are many issues. China has stated our position, first the sovereignty and territorial integrity should be upheld, and to specific issue whether we believe we should take positive measures to ease tensions so as to maintain peace and stability in the region, this is a general issue,” Mr. Lu said.

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