US relations with Pakistan continue to be troubled in the aftermath of the Bin-Laden killing. The Americans are accusing Islamabad of failing to root out Al Qaeda strongholds on its territory and of not clearing up the frontier that poses a threat to stability in Afghanistan.
Some argue that Pakistan is incapable of doing so. Others believe that Pakistan is playing a double game. Outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said that the US was losing patience with Pakistan.
With the deterioration of its relationship with the United States Pakistan has placed increasing reliance on its "all weather" ally China. The Sino-Pakistani alliance was solidified during the Cold War and influenced by the two countries' common rivalry with India.
Now however in a statement recalling American frustration, China is blaming terrorist organizations based in Pakistan for the weekend violence in the Northwest province of Xinjiang, the site of China's nuclear tests. 18 people were killed in ethnic violence over the weekend as a result of stabbings that occurred against a backdrop of explosions. According to the Chinese, authorities one of the suspects claimed that he was part of the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement and received training in Pakistan.
This is besides unrest by the Muslim Uighur minority who claim that the Beijing government is trying to Sinify their land by bringing in Chinese migrant workers.
Pakistan was most conciliatory towards China. Its foreign office issued a statement that all "incidents of terrorism are deplorable" it wished the Chinese government success in frustrating the "evil designs of…extremists and separatists, who constitute an evil force."
Pakistan for its part pledged "its full co-operation and support to the Government of the People's Republic of China against the separatist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)."