China and Pakistan working to free abducted Chinese

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria briefs media at the Foreign Office in Islamabad

Authorities from China and Pakistan are working together to rescue a Chinese couple abducted in southwest Pakistan, a Chinese government spokesman said yesterday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China had asked Pakistani authorities to “take all necessary measures and do their best to rescue the kidnapped Chinese.”

Lu added that the two governments were coordinating to ensure the safety of other Chinese citizens in Pakistan.

Pakistani police were searching for the two teachers from a private language school after they were abducted in the city of Quetta Wednesday.

Gunmen dressed as police stopped the couple’s car and shot and wounded a man who intervened after he rescued a third person who was in the car, according to Pakistani police and China’s official Xinhua news agency.

No one immediately claimed responsibility and the motive behind the abduction was unclear.

Thousands of Chinese nationals work in Pakistan and have sometimes been targeted in attacks by anti-government militants.

China is a longtime ally of Pakistan and is currently building a network of roads and power plants under a project known as the China-
Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Gunmen attacked a highway construction site that is part of the economic initiative earlier this month, killing at least 10 Pakistani workers.