Pakistan says China cooperating in girls' trafficking cases

Chinese officials were cooperating with Pakistan after over 20 Chinese nationals and 15 of their local facilitators were arrested for their alleged involvement in arranging fake marriages of Pakistani women, removing their organs and forcing them into prostitution, an official said Saturday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested more than 20 Chinese and several Pakistanis in more than a week-long crackdown after several media reports showed that Chinese were marrying local women to take them to China for prostitution.

Some reports showed that women refusing to sexual exploitation were threatened to be killed for the sale of their organs.

The Foreign Office (FO) said that the government of China had offered all possible cooperation on the issue. Both sides are closely coordinating their efforts.

It said that a Chinese team visited Pakistan recently and held meetings with "our law enforcement officials".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistan missions in China were closely monitoring the situation and extending all possible assistance to Pakistani citizens who may have any complaints on the issue.

The Chinese Ministry of Public Security has launched an investigation on the issue.

According to the probe, there is no forced prostitution or sale of human organs of Pakistani women who stay in China after marriage with Chinese nationals.

"In light of the aforementioned statement, it is essential to avoid sensationalisation and report on sensitive matters only on the basis of established facts," the FO said.

It underlined that Pakistan and China are 'All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partners'.

Friendship between the two countries enjoys strong public and institutional support in both countries.

The FIA has made dozens of arrests of Chinese nationals in the Punjab province amid reports that hundreds of Pakistani women, many of them belonging to less privileged Christian families, have already been trafficked after being trapped into fake marriages.

The agency has the record of some 95 girls who have travelled to China after marrying Chinese nationals.

It said the Chinese gang would target poor families, mostly Christians, in different cities of Punjab.

The Chinese men paid cash and gold ornaments to the Pakistani facilitators for marriage with Pakistani girls.

Hundreds of Chinese have come to live in Pakistan in connection with various development work undertaken by the Chinese companies under the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.