Chinese netizens protest against killing of nationals in Pakistan, wants PLA to fight Islamic State

Beijing: Agitated over the killing of two Chinese nationals in Pakistan by Islamic State militants, Chinese netizens have been demanding that China should send troops to Pakistan to fight the dreaded terror group. [caption id=“attachment_132403” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Weibo. Reuters[/caption] The reports about the killing of two Chinese nationals in Pakistan’s Balochistan province has generated a cascade of discussion on Weibo, a Twitter-style Chinese social media platform, with many users calling for revenge, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday. Social media users are demanding the Chinese government to send troops to Pakistan to seek “payback” for the killing of the two Chinese nationals, the daily said. “We shall start a war against Islamic State, killing them on behalf of the two murdered Chinese,” said a user going by the name Zhou Qi Bei Hou. “It is time to fight violence with violence,” another user, Lingchen99096, said. Pakistan government’s claim that the two Chinese nationals were involved in illegal preaching activities has ignited more anger. “The Pakistani government said they were told that the two Chinese were missionaries. I was just wondering, who told them,” the Post quoted one Weibo user as saying. It is rare that netizens in China could let loose such a barrage of criticism against Pakistan on social media which is controlled by heavy firewalls by Chinese authorities. It is not clear how this barrage of criticism on the social media appeared despite the firewalls. Chinese foreign ministry on 9 June said Beijing was informed by Pakistan officials that a Chinese man and a woman identified as Lee Zingyang, 24, and Meng Lisi, 26, who were kidnapped in May from Quetta may have been killed. Reports from Pakistan said the two were killed by Islamic State group after being abducted by gunmen dressed as policemen in Quetta in restive Balochistan province in May. Chinese officials have yet to confirm the deaths, but a spokesman from the Chinese foreign affairs ministry said on Wednesday that Beijing was investigating whether the two were illegally preaching in Pakistan before they were abducted.