KARACHI: About 25 persons were injured … when two rival groups of port workers clashed outside the NOB Gate (Keamari) yesterday [March 30]. Police arrested 130 workers from both the parties for causing riot and breach of peace. Police resorted to lathi-charge and used tear-gas to disperse the mob. … The trouble arose when a group of workers already on a sit-in strike for wage increase resisted another group of workers belonging to the ‘refilling gang’ of the Ministry of Food, led by a contactor ... who tried to enter the port area to resume work. — Staff reporter

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from Colombo,] China today [March 30] took strong exception to an ECAFE document listing Hsisha Islands (Paracels) and the Ansha Islands (Spratleys) as offshore island areas of South Vietnam. In a statement … the Chinese delegate said that these islands had always been an inalienable part of Chinese territory, … China had indisputable sovereignty over [them]. … The … delegate recalled the statement of Prime Minister Chou En-lai in 1951 … that although the islands had been occupied by Japan … they were all taken over by the then Chinese Government following Japan’s surrender.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2024