According to the Committee for Democratisation of North Korea (CDNK), North Korean agents are also believed to have abducted roughly 200 citizens of the People's Republic of China from the late 1990s onwards, mostly ethnic Koreans from frontier towns in northeast China who provided aid to North Korean defectors. The kidnap victims were then imprisoned in North Korea. The Chinese government reportedly has not officially requested the repatriation of any of these victims, a policy the CDNK describes as aimed at preserving harmony in the countries' bilateral relations.[60]