'May cause another outbreak': China backs Pakistan's decision not to evacuate students
Imran Khan
A Chinese diplomat on Thursday backed Pakistan's decision not to evacuate Pakistani students from Wuhan city a day after the angry parents issued an ultimatum to the country's government of holding a demonstration if they bring their children back within three days.
"If such large number of students come back, this will cost huge health operations for the Pakistani government. If the isolation facilities are not ready, this can cause another outbreak of this virus in Pakistan," news agency Reuters quoted Li Bijian, Consul General of China in Karachi, as saying.
"So that's why I say this decision of not evacuating the students from the epicentre is difficult but a very good decision."
Li also said that China had better facilities for the students and the government was providing masks and suits to protect them.
"We treat them as our own children," Li said.
More than one thousand of the Pakistani students are stuck in China where the coronavirus outbreak had killed over 2,000 and infected more than 75,000. The Imran Khan government has failed to pay heed to their parents' demands as it ruled out bringing back more children stuck in Hubei province and Wuhan.
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On Wednesday, angry parents confronted government ministers at a meeting, demanding their children be evacuated.
"We will continue our protest until our children are brought back. We have no other demand. We only need our children back who are dangling between life and death. They are falling victim to depression," said father of a final year student trapped in Hubei which is under lockdown.
"We have no other demand but one: that our children should be brought back," said another parent.
Pakistan and China are very close allies. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called Chinese President Xi Jinping to express Pakistan's solidarity with the Chinese leadership and people, a statement issued by the prime minister's office said.