Daily Times

QUETTA: Two Chinese working in Pakistan were kidnapped Wednesday, local police and China’s state media said, an attack which could raise safety concerns for Beijing’s multi-billion dollar investments in the country.

The abductions happened around midday in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan which is at the heart of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

“A Chinese couple was kidnapped from the neighbourhood of Jinnah town in Quetta,” senior local police official Aitzaz Goraya told AFP. “They were dragged into a vehicle without number plates by three unknown men,” he said. One Chinese woman managed to escape as the men began firing in the air to scare off onlookers.

A passer-by, Zahir, was shot as he tried to prevent the abduction. He told AFP he saw three men forcing a Chinese woman into a white car but she was resisting and crying. “I stopped to observe the situation but they had forced the woman in the car by then and were pushing the man. So I rushed to them and asked what they were doing. One of them said they are from the crime branch of the police and are taking them for investigation. I told them that they should not misbehave with people. Then the driver came out and shot me in my leg,” the 35-year-old said.

Chinese state media confirmed the kidnapping, while deputy chief of mission in Islamabad Zhao Lijian said the embassy was working towards their release. He said the pair had been studying Urdu at a language centre. Local police had earlier said they were teaching Chinese.