China on Tuesday spoke in defence of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts after voting against its ally at the Financial Action Task Force meeting in Paris, Xinhua reported. Beijing said the international community should view Islamabad’s measures “objectively”.

“The government and people of Pakistan have contributed and sacrificed a lot in their fight against terrorism and made great efforts in ground operations as well as combating terrorism in the financial sector,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing.

On February 26, the Financial Action Task Force placed Pakistan on a “grey list” that will monitory its efforts to counter money laundering and terror financing. Beijing had joined the motion passed by the United States.

Initially China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey had opposed the motion, but Beijing and Riyadh changed their stance after news reports shared a tweet by Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif thanking its “friends”. According to reports, India and the US seized on this tweet as proof that Islamabad was not serious about combating terror financing or in the protocols of the FATF.