The Chinese embassy in Islamabad on Saturday rejected reports about human trafficking and trade of human organs as ‘baseless’ and maintained that China is cooperating with the Pakistani law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal matchmaking centres.
“Both China and Pakistan adopt rule of law and firmly oppose human trafficking and sale of human organs. The reports about sale of organs are misleading and groundless,” the embassy noted, in response to media reports that several illegal matchmaking centres in Pakistan were brokering marriages between Chinese and Pakistani citizens which were also linked with illegal human trafficking or even sale of human organs.
“We have noticed that recently some unlawful matchmaking centres made illegal profits by brokering cross-national marriages. Both Chinese and Pakistani youths are victims of these illegal agents,” the statement issued by the Chinese embassy said. “Chinese laws and regulations strictly prohibit cross-national matchmaking centres. No individual is allowed to engage in any form of such activity by deception or for profit,” it continued. “The Chinese government also strictly prohibits any organisation or individual from buying or selling human organs in any form, or engaging in such activities. For those who constitute a crime, criminal responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with the law,” it added.
The embassy statement said that China is cooperating with Pakistani law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal matchmaking centres. “We remind both Chinese and Pakistani citizens to remain vigilant and not to be cheated. We also welcome valuable clues to combat such offenses,” the statement read. “At the same time, it is hoped that any reports should be based on facts. We hope that the public does not believe in misleading information and work together to safeguard China-Pakistan friendship,” it concluded.