THE Chinese Embassy in Islamabad has categorically rejected the media reports by a foreign press agency that had claimed that at least 629 Pakistani girls were sold as brides to China. The Associated Press on the 4th of December had reported that more than five hundred Pakistani girls were sold as brides to China recently, alleging acts of abuse, organized prostitution, organ trading and so on.
This is not first time that such allegations were levelled by foreign media and the actual position clarified by the Chinese side. There have been consistent attempts in the past as well to highlight such allegations with the apparent objective of sowing seeds of discord between people of Pakistan and China but timely clarification by the Chinese officials removed all such ambiguities. The Chinese Government maintains the position that it will protect legitimate marriages and under the joint efforts of the two governments, the illegal marriage matching activity has been effectively curbed, and that China would always support Pakistan in this regard. The seriousness of the Chinese Government can also be gauged by the fact that its Ministry of Public Security of China launched an investigation in this connection and sent a task force to Pakistan to carry out law enforcement cooperation with relevant officials of the country. The repetition of allegations by the foreign media is part of the overall propaganda campaign aimed at bringing China into bad light and an attempt to spoil its relationship with other countries including Pakistan. This approach is also visible from the coverage of the issue of human rights in China and alleged mistreatment of Uyghurs Muslims. Apart from this, the human rights issue is also misused in the case of Hong Kong. It is quite obvious that some powers are apprehensive of China’s rapid rise as the globe’s economic and military power and instead of competing with it in a fair manner, attempts are being made to tarnish its image. However, the Chinese leadership is successfully blunting such conspiracies by strictly pursuing the policy of peaceful existence both at home and abroad.
