—LCCI office-bearers allegedly involved in issuing fake clearance letters for Chinese visa
ISLAMABAD: The Chinese embassy has blacklisted the Ministry of Textile after the disappearance of four Pakistani men in China.
The high-ups of the textile ministry said that the Chinese embassy has refused to give visas to ministry officials after the four men disappeared in China.
According to sources privy to the development, the Chinese embassy had issued business visas to four men on the recommendation of the minister of state for textile. The men in question initially disappeared in China and then applied for political asylum there. Later, they also showed a desire to go to Hong Kong, the sources added.
As soon as this matter came to its notice, the Chinese embassy wrote a letter to the Ministry of Textile to share all relevant details in connection with the issue. The letter requested the Pakistani authorities to call back all four men to Pakistan.
The textile ministry had sent its reply to the Chinese embassy on this matter and assured that all the men would be brought back to Pakistan soon.
The Ministry of Textile Personal Assistant Asad told Pakistan Today that the matter had been resolved. “We replied to the Chinese embassy and assured them that honest efforts would be made to ensure the return of the Pakistani nationals,” he added.
On the other hand, the high-ups of the textile ministry said that they were not aware of any such development. They also said the ministry had not received any letter from the Chinese embassy. Sources further informed that the textile ministry was trying to solve this matter with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Ministry of Commerce was also trying to brush this issue under the carpet. It is pertinent to mention here that the ministry had not only registered a first information report against ministers in the previous government for issuing fake letters but also wrote a number of letters to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as well.
A few months back, a similar type of case emerged in which office bearers of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) were allegedly found involved in taking a bribe for issuing fake letters for the purpose of getting Chinese visas.
In one letter written to the Chinese embassy, titled ‘Guarantee Letter for Business Visa’, the secretary general on behalf of LCCI stated, “This is to certify that M/S Mughal Enterprises Engineering is a constituent member of LCCI. The company is planning to send Waseem Siddique, passport number AS5462513, valid up to Nov 25, 2025, date and place of issue November 26, 2015, Lahore, on a business tour to China for a period of approximately six months.”
Through another letter, the LCCI had recommended issuing a visa in the name of Haider Waseem by declaring that he was a member of LCCI. In the signed letter, the LCCI took all responsibility for any mishaps if the Chinese government were to grant a visa to the said person. Another letter was also issued for someone else.
It was alleged that hefty bribes were being received by certain people for issuing fake clearance letters for a Chinese visa. When this matter was brought to the notice of the LCCI executive committee, an inquiry committee was constituted to probe this matter. Unfortunately, the inquiry committee did not submit any report in this regard.
