On the evening of October 16, 2004, the remains of Chinese engineer Wang Peng who was killed in the Pakistani kidnapping incident arrived at Jinan Yaoqiang Airport by a chartered plane of Pakistan.
Vice-governor Xie Yutang of Shandong Province, Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang, representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, China National Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Group Corporation and Dezhou municipal government and family members of the killed engineer as well as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and Pakistani Ambassador to China Riaz Mohammad Khan who specially accompanied the coffin to China participated in the ceremony held at the airport to receive the coffin.
Tonight Jinan airport is filled with a solemn silence. The coffin of Wang Peng is covered by the national flags of China and Pakistan and wreaths. Vice-governor Xie Yutang, Ambassador Riaz and General Manager Guo Jiantang of China National Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Group Corporation delivered speeches respectively at the mourning ceremony. Xie Yutang, on behalf of the Chinese government, expressed condolence to the dead and extended sympathy to his family and Wang Ende who returned to China earlier. He said that we strongly condemn the terrorist act of kidnapping hostages. The governments of China and Pakistan will continue working together to promote the development of friendly cooperative relations.
Ambassador Riaz, on behalf of the Pakistani government and people, expressed deep grief over the death of Wang Peng. He said that it is the crime of terrorism that caused this tragedy. The Pakistani government will try its utmost to protect the security of Chinese friends working in its country.
After the mourning ceremony ended, the participants watched the coffin carried on the hearse and heading for the funeral parlor.
Since the two Chinese were taken hostage on October 9, 2004, Chinese leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) and government including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have attached great importance to the incident, paid close attention to the security of hostages and made instructions to handle the aftermath properly. Chinese government agencies including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese Embassy in Pakistan have kept close contacts with the Pakistani side. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Public Security and China National Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Group Corporation have all dispatched government working teams and aftermath working teams to Pakistan to try their best to rescue the hostages and appropriately handle the aftermath. Governor Han Yuqun of Shandong Province conveyed the sincere sympathy of leaders of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to the family members of the dead and expressed deep grief over the death of Wang Peng. The local governments of Shandong and Hebei also quickly conducted appeasement to the survivor and the family of the killed and started addressing relevant aftermath issues.
The officials of Chinese Foreign Ministry note that related departments of the two countries will conduct negotiations and studies on effective measures to be taken in order to ensure the security of Chinese people working in Pakistan.