On a previous visit to China, in May 2010, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani meets with senior military officers. (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – At a time of great stress for Pakistan-U.S. relations, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is visiting China, a strategic ally that has rallied behind Islamabad in the aftermath of the Osama bin Laden killing.

Although the trip was scheduled before bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad earlier this month, Gilani’s four-day visit, wahich will include talks with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, has taken on additional importance given the chill in Islamabad-Washington ties.

Amid the diplomatic fallout over the fugitive terrorist’s location and Pakistani claims that its sovereignty had been violated in the raid, China has been outspokenly supportive of Pakistan.

Officials in Beijing, along with state-run media, repeatedly praised Pakistan’s efforts in the campaign against terrorists and backed its calls for the U.S. to respect Pakistan’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu warmly described China and Pakistan as “good neighbors, friends, partners and brothers” and praised Islamabad’s “staunch” determination to fight terrorism.

(Officially, China welcomed the news of bin Laden’s death. By contrast, when Hong Kong-based Phoenix television asked viewers in an online poll for their opinion of the terrorist’s death, almost 60 percent of the 500,000 respondents chose an option saying they were saddened at the death of the “anti-U.S. warrior.” Only 18 percent declared themselves pleased that he was dead.)

An editorial in the Communist Party-affiliated Global Times called the U.S. criticism of Pakistan unfair.

It said that even though China occasionally has to deal with extremists who are based in Pakistan – a reference to Uighur militants operating from Pakistan’s tribal belt – “this has not caused any deterioration in bilateral ties between the two countries.”

“China has set an example for the West on how to treat Pakistan as a sincere and cooperative partner.”

Writing in a Global Times column, Fu Xiaoqiang, head of the Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Pakistan had paid a heavy price for its actions against terrorists.

Fu also warned that if the U.S. violates other countries’ sovereignty in pursuit of terrorists, “this could result in inconceivable consequences.”

Pakistani commentators, in turn, have described China and its support in glowing terms.

“Many countries showed solidarity with Pakistan at this most critical time and, as witnessed in the past, it was our time-tested and all-weather friend China that took the lead in backing Pakistan,” Zahid Malik, editor-in-chief of the Karachi-based Pakistan Observer, wrote on Monday.

Islamabad’s ambassador to China, Masood Ahmed Khan, told a Pakistani television news channel that Beijing had stood steadfastly with Pakistan after the bin Laden incident.

He also hailed China’s longer-term collaboration with Pakistan, citing its help in building a strategic deep water port at Gwadar, near the mouth of the Persian Gulf; and in expanding Pakistan’s civilian nuclear energy facilities.

China built the Chashma-1 and 2 nuclear reactors in Punjab province and has begun work on two more reactors nearby. Gilani inaugurated Chashma-2 last week, hailing the “long and time-tested friendship” between the two countries.

Citing “reliable Pakistani sources,” regional security analyst Bahukutumbi Raman said Gilani is expected to raise in Beijing the possibility of an increase in Chinese economic assistance, which would then allow Pakistan to resist the pressure it feels under from its key aid provider, the U.S.

Gilani was also expected to seek China’s help to strengthen air defenses near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, he said.

If confirmed, such a step could have an impact on the ability of the U.S. to carry out missile strikes from unmanned drones against terrorist targets in the mountainous tribal belt adjacent to the Afghanistan border. Pakistan’s federal parliament passed a resolution Saturday demanding an end to the missile strikes.

Raman, director of the Institute For Topical Studies in India, argued that while the Chinese would like to help Pakistan, they would not likely do so in a way that could harm current steps to improve military-to-military ties with Washington.

People’s Liberation Army chief of staff Gen. Chen Bingde is in the U.S. this week with a delegation of top military officers, for the first such official visit in seven years.

Raman predicted that China would not wish to sound a “jarring note” during Chen’s trip by announcing fresh initiatives relating to Pakistan.