Sabah assures its best to rescue abducted Chinese national

The Sabah government has given an assurance that it will do its to rescue the Chinese national who was abducted by armed men from the Singamata Reef Resort off Semporna late Wednesday.

Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said he had briefed the Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia on the situation and efforts to rescue the Chinese tourist.

"We have briefed the Chinese Ambassador, Dr Huang Huikang on our rescue efforts. We deeply regret the incident and hope our existing ties with China remains strong and it won't jeorpadise our tourism industry," he told reporters meeting the Chinese ambassador here on Saturday.

He said the ambassador had also urged for a speedy resolution of the case and tighter border security measures.

Also present was Sabah Friendship President Ma-Zhong Dr Oh Ei Sun.

Oh said the association was ready to render the necessary assistance to the victim's family if they chose to come to Sabah.

The 29-year-old tourist from China, identified as Gao Hua Yun from Shanghai, and Filipino worker Marcy Dayawan @ Mimi, 40, were abducted by a group of seven armed men from the resort about 10.30 pm on Wednesday.

The 60-room resort has been in operation for over 10 years and is located about two nautical miles from the town of Semporna.