Pakistan confirms death of two Chinese nationals, vows to nab perpetrators

Lee Zing Yang and Meng Li Si were abducted from Jinnah Town of Quetta on May 24

The government has confirmed the death of two Chinese nationals who were abducted from Balochistan earlier this year.

“The DNA reports have confirmed that the two persons killed in Balochistan in June 2017 were the same two Chinese nationals, who were kidnapped from Quetta in May 2017,” the Foreign Office said in a statement on Monday.

Lee Zing Yang, 24, and Meng Li Si, 26, were abducted from Jinnah Town of the city on May 24. The Islamic State terrorist group had claimed that it had killed the abductees.

Later, then interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was told that the couple, a part of a group of Chinese citizens who obtained business visa from the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing, were instead engaged in evangelical activities in the garb of learning Urdu language.



The government condemned the death, and expressed deep sense of shock and grief on “this brutal act of terrorism” and extended condolences “to the Chinese government and sympathies to the families of the victims”.

The government, the statement added, would continue to conduct thorough investigation and apprehend the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice.

“Pakistan strongly condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestation. We are grateful to the Government of China for its strong support for our fight against the menace of terrorism,” the communiqué read. “Pakistan will continue to work with China and the international community to enhance counter terrorism cooperation as well as regional and global peace and security.”

Beijing is ramping up investment in Pakistan as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor unveiled in 2015 that will link its Xinjiang region to Gwadar port with a series of infrastructure, power and transport upgrades.