China’s official media today accused South Korean Christian groups of converting young Chinese and sending them for proselytising in Muslim countries, a day after Pakistan said the two Chinese nationals killed by ISIS were involved in “preaching” in the country.

The state-run Global Times mainly highlighted the comments by Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali, that Lee Zingyang, 24, and Meng Lisi, 26, who were kidnapped from Jinnah Town, Quetta, in the restive Balochistan province on May 24, and killed allegedly by Islamic State militants had entered Pakistan on business visas.

The minister was informed that the two were part of a group of Chinese citizens who obtained business visas from the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing and entered Pakistan.

But instead of doing business, they had gone to Quetta, where they pretended to learn Urdu from a Korean business owner but “were actually engaged in preaching forbidden proselytizing,” the Global Times reported.

“The tragedy has triggered a new wave of anger against Islamic terrorism among the Chinese public, who have already been victimised by terrorism and extremism in the country’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” the daily said.

At the same time it quoted Chinese analysts warning of “another dangerous trend that might see China become entangled in constant trouble with overseas terrorism as South Korean missionaries are allegedly recruiting Chinese people to preach in Muslim countries“.

Experts spoke of increasing activities by South Korean Christian groups who have been active in converting people in China, an officially atheist country, and proselytizing in Muslim countries, where such activities are forbidden and may even result in death sentences, the report said.

“Analysts further warned that some illegal missionary activities by South Korean religious groups in China are even sponsored by Seoul’s secret services,” it said.

“South Korean missionaries have been conducting underground missionary activities in China since at least a decade ago. Many missionary organisations are even sponsored by the (South Korean) intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Service,” Chu Yin, an associate professor at the University of International Relations was quoted as saying by the Global Times.

Apart from recruiting young people in China, South Korean missionaries send teenagers to risk their lives to conduct missionary activities in Muslim countries, and compared to Chinese, more South Koreans have been killed abroad due to risky missionary activities in conservative Islamic regions, a university student who has participated in several South Korean underground missionary events told the daily.

“Normally these missionaries will try to attract young Chinese students who come to churches because these students want to know about Christianity. Some of them will offer free airfare tickets, accommodation and meals if Chinese teenagers go to South Korea, and as they (missionaries) normally have a legal cover, like being an exchange scholar or postgraduate student, many Chinese students decide to go with them,” the student said.

“Some Chinese voluntarily join in the dangerous missionary activities in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq after being converted by South Koreans,” he said.

China has very strict rules on foreigners’ religious activities in China. The country forbids foreigners from converting people.

Meanwhile, an editorial in Global Times said, “while the atrocity” by the Islamic State in killing the two Chinese is appalling, it cannot drive a wedge between China and Pakistan, nor will the construction of the CPEC be disrupted.

“The killings of the two Chinese citizens should serve as a lesson. It is necessary for China and Pakistan to understand the situation of South Korean missionaries and radical groups in Balochistan, so as to better protect the safety of Chinese nationals in Pakistan,” it said.

“In fact, it’s doubtful whether the extremist organisation targeted the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) this time. The two hostages killed were not staff related to the project, but had allegedly been brought to Pakistan by a South Korean Christian organisation to conduct missionary work. This tragedy was more likely caused by the conflict between South Korean missionary agencies and local terrorists,” it added.

“The China—Pakistan bilateral relationship is regarded as a model of relations between countries with different social systems. The Chinese public considers Pakistan as China’s “iron brother,” the editorial said.

“Pakistan has made great efforts in protecting the CPEC.

It has dispatched approximately 15,000 Pakistani military personnel to protect the Chinese engineers, the number of the former exceeding that of the latter. This is known to the Chinese public,” it said.

“Pakistan is far from having a stable domestic situation, but as the China—Pakistan friendship is deeply rooted in Pakistani society and most political and sectarian forces don’t consider China as an enemy, the security dilemmas facing the country will not impact the bilateral relationship or the CPEC,” it added.

“So far, no political forces in Pakistan have openly boycotted the CPEC, instead, various regions compete to join the project. There is generally a favourable political and public opinion environment toward the project. The killings of the two hostages are not a signal of any change to the current situation”, it said.

“Some Indian and Western media intend to exaggerate the impacts of the incident. They aim at badmouthing and disrupting China—Pakistan economic cooperation by linking the terror act caused by religious conflict to the political and economic cooperation between the two countries,” it added.