Chinese citizens have decided to set up a foundation to financially support the families of the policemen who were martyred in an attack on the Chinese Consulate in Karachi last week, said Tianru Tang, Managing Director EXIM, a Chinese company, while talking to Business Recorder on Tuesday.
Declaring the martyred policemen as heroes, she said that she had opened a personal account (e-money) to collect donations from Chinese citizens from all over the world to help the families of the martyred police personnel.
"More than 1,000 people have so far sent donations to this account opened for the welfare of families of the policemen," she said.
She said, "We are collecting donations from Chinese community unofficially as Chinese Embassy is not authorised to participate in any fund raising event." However, she said that the officials of Chinese Embassy did contribute to the fund in their personal capacity.
The people of China are participating in the fund raising campaign as a token of love for their Pakistani brethren. She said that terrorists/enemies tried to create misunderstanding between the two brotherly countries but they failed to affect Sino-Pak relations.
"The people of China are well aware that Pakistanis will always stand by them and no power on earth can damage their time-tested relations," she maintained.
She continued that the terrorist attack was a malicious attempt by enemies of both the countries to spoil their relations, which angered the people both in China and Pakistan.
"The whole amount collected through the fund raising can not be given to the bereaved families as they won't be able to properly utilise it," she said, adding a foundation would be established as a long-term measure to provide financial support to the families.
In a couple of days, she said, she would go to Karachi to meet the families of the martyred policemen and would also discuss the idea of setting up a foundation in detail with Chinese Consulate in Karachi.
She maintained that the young policemen who sacrificed their lives while protecting the Chinese officials will not be forgotten. "It is our responsibility to take care of their wives and children," she added.
Talking about raising money, she said that she asked the Chinese citizens for donations through a group established on the website of her company.
She said that on Monday, she arranged a fund raising event at her home in Islamabad which was attended by individuals and representatives of Chinese companies working in Pakistan.
"This shows the ongoing cooperation not only at the government-to-government level but also reflects the brotherly relationship at people-to-people level," she added.
About the overall security arrangement for Chinese people living in Pakistan, she said that armed forces of Pakistan are already guarding the Chinese working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, while private security guards have also been hired to further beef up the security.
Wang Shan, Assistant Professor/Liaison Officer, Xi'an Polytechnic University China, said that she put the message of donation for families of policemen on social media and a lot of people showed interest.
Earlier, while addressing a donation ceremony in Islamabad alongside Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Monday, Deputy Chief of Mission of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan Lijian Zhao had announced that a Chinese citizen had decided to donate one month's salary to the families of the policemen.
Zhao had said the donors believed that Pak-China friendship is not simply empty words but is "rooted in the hearts of the peoples of the two countries."