Two Chinese kidnapped in Pakistan

QUETTA • Armed men pretending to be policemen kidnapped two Chinese language teachers in the Pakistani city of Quetta yesterday, provincial officials said, an attack likely to raise concerns in Beijing about its huge investment plans.

Mr Anwar ul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for the government of Balochistan province, of which Quetta is the capital, said the men also wounded a passer-by who tried to stop them.

"A Chinese couple has been kidnapped," he said. "(The passer-by) inquired why they were doing this and they said they were from a law enforcement agency, but when he asked for their identification cards, they shot him."

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but Islamist militant groups have previously kidnapped foreigners inside Pakistan for ransom or publicity for their cause. The Chinese embassy in Islamabad confirmed two of its nationals had been kidnapped, China's state news agency Xinhua said.

Quetta police chief Razza Cheema said another Chinese woman narrowly evaded kidnappers outside a language centre in Jinnah, near the international airport on the city's outskirts. "Armed men took the couple into custody at gunpoint when they were coming out from the centre," he said.

China has pledged to invest US$57 billion (S$79 billion) in Pakistani road, rail and power infrastructure in a flagship project of its vast Belt and Road initiative for a network of routes connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

Chinese officials have often urged Islamabad to improve security, especially in Balochistan, where China is building a new port and funding roads to link its western regions with the Arabian Sea.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 25, 2017, with the headline Two Chinese kidnapped in Pakistan. Subscribe