ISLAMABAD: Amidst complaints of human smuggling in the garb of cross-cultural weddings, the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad has withheld visas for 90 Pakistan “brides” who wanted to go to China with their spouses.
A Chinese diplomat told Urdu News, a news portal of Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), that the embassy alerted Pakistani authorities after witnessing an unusual increase in wedding visa applications this year.
“Last year, about 142 Pakistani women applied for wedding visas after marrying with Chinese nationals while this year so far 140 Pakistani brides have applied for such visas, ” Lijian Zhao, deputy Chief of Mission at Chinese Embassy in Islamabad was quoted as saying by Urdu News.
The diplomat said China is investigating all 142 cases of wedding that took place in 2018 and initial investigations have revealed that there are few isolated cases where the couples have some problems. “We are trying to track if there is any problem. We are ready to help those girls if there is any issue,” he said.
He mentioned a complaint by a Pakistani wife who wrote a letter to a Pakistani minister complaining that she was subjected to torture. After the letter, he said, the Chinese authorities probed the matter but found no evidence of torture. However, the couple decided to go for divorce after which the local government in China provided bullet train ticket and air ticket to Pakistani women and she arrived home on May 2nd this year. He, however, denied media reports about Pakistani women being subjected to forced prostitution and organ sale in China.
“There are lies being spread on internet and media. They are talking about Pakistani girls being sent to China for forced prostitution or sale of organs. That is totally fabricated and for sensational purposes. There is no evidence for that. Prove me if you have that kind of evidence,” he said. Zhao asked Pakistani government to review its visa on arrival policy for Chinese businessmen as some marriage bureaus in Pakistan are misusing it.
He said the Pakistani authorities should probe into institutions and chambers of commerce and industry which are inviting those fake businessmen which are actually coming to Pakistan in search of wives.
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