China vows to bring Islamic State to justice for executing Chinese hostage

Beijing: While confirming that a Chinese national held hostage by the Islamic State has been killed, Beijing has vowed to bring his killers to justice.

Chinese national Fan Jinghui was held hostage by the ISIS and he was executed, along with Norwegian hostage Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad.

The two were executed after both China and Norway refused to pay the ransom to their ISIS captors.

The terrorists had identified Fan as a 50-year-old freelance consultant from Beijing.

In September, the ISIS had featured Fan in its magazine and mockingly put him up for “sale” along with the Norwegian hostage.

Reacting to the development, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “The Chinese government strongly condemns this savage act devoid of humanity and will certainly bring the criminals to justice.”

“The Chinese government will resolutely oppose all forms of terrorism, and resolutely strike at any violent terrorist criminal activities that defy the bottom lines of human culture,” it added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also condemned the Islamic State group for killing the Chinese national and expressed his deep sympathy to the victim's family.

"Terrorism is the public enemy of human beings," Xi said, adding that China firmly opposes terrorism of all forms and will resolutely crack down on any terrorist crime that challenges the bottom line of human civilization.