PHOTO: EXPRESS

Chinese laws and regulations strictly prohibit cross-national matchmaking centers. China is cooperating with Pakistani law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal matchmaking centers.

Statement by the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan:https://t.co/ZukUBdkuzv pic.twitter.com/4Uw3xSprfY — Chinese Emb Pakistan (@CathayPak) April 13, 2019

In an ongoing clamp down against alleged sex trafficking racket, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday arrested another 14 Chinese nationals from Rawalpindi.The FIA's human trafficking cell, headed by Deputy Director Nadeem Zafar, in an intelligence based operation recovered three Pakistani women and detained 14 Chinese nationals who were allegedly involved in the trafficking of Pakistani women on the false pretext of marriages.According to sources, one of the girls who was recovered by FIA is underage and revealed that she had married a Chinese man who pretended to be Muslim on the internet but later she found out that the man is atheist.Weapons, Chinese passports, illicit medicines and gold ornaments among others were also recovered during the raid.The accused conned Pakistani families by marrying girls with the help of local agents and the victims were subjected to sexual exploitation after being trafficked to China soon after their ‘fake’ marriage.Chinese embassy had also reacted on the reports of the cross-national marriages saying: "Chinese laws and regulations strictly prohibited cross-national matchmaking centres and we hope that the public does not believe in misleading information and work together to safeguard China-Pakistan friendship,”.At least 27 Chinese nationals have been arrested so far in the ongoing crackdown launched by the FIA.Federal Minister for Interior Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Ahmad Shah had also directed the authorities concerned to take action on the matter.