Chinese Foreign Ministry seeks arrest of Pak diplomat's son

All may not be well between the 'all weather friends' Pakistan and China.

According to sources, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is refusing to overlook payment of compensation in a road accident case where a car driven by the son of a Counsellor-level Pakistani diplomat, posted at the Embassy of Pakistan in Beijing, caused grievous injury to a Chinese national.

It appears that despite the Beijing City Court having imposed a financial penalty equivalent to around USD 85,000 on the driver, the Embassy has dragged its foot by paying the compensation.

The diplomat and his family involved in the incident have since been posted out of Beijing, leaving the Chinese side with very limited options.

As a result, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has due to the inaction of the Pakistani Embassy on this matter threatened that unless the penalty was paid immediately, it would refer the case to Interpol for the arrest of the diplomat's son.

The Chinese Government is generally seen to be lenient in matters related to Pakistan. Therefore, the fact that it has decided to press for the payment of compensation in this case could be seen as an indication of a sense of frustration with Islamabad on numerous other issues including the blatant misuse of diplomatic immunity by Pakistani diplomats based in China.

The Pakistani Embassy has earlier been ticked off by the Chinese Foreign Ministry for sending unauthorised items through the diplomatic bag.

Consequently, the Chinese authorities are known to carefully scan consignments sent through Pakistan Airlines flights to and from Beijing.