Pak identifies abducted Chinese nationals as 'preachers'

Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was informed on Monday in a high level meeting that the two Chinese nationals, abducted from Quetta last month, were involved in preaching, instead of business activities, their declared purpose for visiting the country.

The two Chinese, identified as Lee Zing Yang, 24, and Meng Li Si, 26, were abducted from Jinnah Town Quetta on May 24, reports the Dawn.

However, it was not immediately clear what actually they were 'preaching'.

After the briefing, Nisar announced to revise the visa policy and establishment of a databank for Chinese nationals visiting Pakistan to avoid the misuse of business visas by foreign nationals.

The interior minister was informed that the abductees had gone to Quetta, where they pretended to learn the Urdu language from a Korean national, Juan Won Seo, who is the owner of ARK Info Tech, but were actually engaged in preaching.

The two were part of a Chinese citizens group, who had obtained business visas from the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing.

Expressing his displeasure over negligence shown by Pakistani missions abroad in granting visas, Nisar directed all Pakistani missions to undertake proper scrutiny of visa application forms and acquire all necessary details before exercising their powers.

He also called for a data bank of Chinese nationals, present in the country, to be maintained.

He said a data bank of Chinese nationals, present in the country, should be prepared and maintained by National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) and should be shared with all security agencies of the country.

Nisar also assured that Pakistan Government was making every effort to secure foreigners.

The high level meeting was attended by the secretary interior, advocate general, director general of immigration and passports, the deputy chairman NADRA and others.

The Islamic State had reportedly claimed to have killed two Chinese nationals held in Mastung district of Balochistan, Pakistan.

The SITE Intelligence Group said that the ISIS, through its Amaq news agency, has claimed that its fighters in Pakistan have killed two Chinese nationals held in Mastung.

The development comes days after Pakistani forces said that they have killed a number of key commanders of the Islamic State group in an operation carried out in the mountainous Mastung district after intelligence reports said the group was holding the Chinese nationals kidnapped on May 24 from Jinnah Town of the provincial capital Quetta.

The Chinese presence in Pakistan has increased in the past few years due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Pakistani government has deployed 15,000 military personnel to protect projects under the economic corridor. Following the abduction, China had said it will spare no effort to rescue its kidnapped citizens while adding that it will also step up efforts to safeguard the security of Chinese citizens and agencies in Pakistan.