China and Pakistan have shared close ties for almost four decades. Beijing is Islamabad's biggest military supplier and one of its largest foreign investors. But the recent killings -- the fourth attack on Chinese nationals in the past few years -- threatens to jeopardise their good relations.

Many analysts have linked the killings with the Lal Mosque showdown in Islamabad, which has been going on for over a week now. Security officials have said it was a "targeted killing" and the immediate suspects are hard-line Islamist groups with close ties to the Red Mosque.

Tariq Fatimi is a former Pakistani diplomat, who served in China for three years. He thinks the Chinese government may have applied pressure on Islamabad: "I would characterise the kidnapping of the Chinese nationals as the tipping point -- the point at which the government said 'enough is enough -- we have got to take action against them'".

Strategic ally

He explained it was not only a question of Europeans being attacked but also of Chinese and since China is Pakistan's strategic ally, it was important that Islamabad do something.

"That was the point that the Musharraf regime felt if it didn’t move against the Lal Masjid, it would not only destroy any semblance of sincerity as regards the war on terror but would also upset Pakistan’s most important friend and ally," Fatimi added.

The attack on the Lal Mosque was sparked when students from the radical Koran school kidnapped seven Chinese massage therapists last month, accusing them of prostitution. Beijing immediately expressed concern and asked for more protection for its nationals

Chinese restaurants

There are almost 5000 Chinese nationals working in Pakistan. Chinese restaurants and beauty salons have become part and parcel of Pakistani culture. There are also many Chinese engineers working at the Chasma nuclear plant, the newly-built Gwadar port, and in the development of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

D.S. Rajan, the director of the Chinnai Centre of China Studies, does not believe that China-Pakistan relations would suffer on the whole but admitted that it was "very normal for China to get worried" and that the situation could deteriorate if China thought the atmosphere was getting unfriendly.

Whereas the ex-diplomat Fatimi believes that there are elements within Pakistan, deliberately trying to damage the Pakistan-China relationship: ."Those who are attacking Chinese nationals are doing so because they know it will hurt Musharaf regime."

Increasingly short of friends on the international scene, Islamabad is keen to keep its relationship with China, especially in view of the giant Communist state's growing friendship with Pakistan's nuclear neighbour India.