Deaths in Africa raise safety concerns
3 arrested in Central African Republic for murder of Chinese nationals
A deadly attack on Chinese nationals in the Central African Republic may influence Chinese investments amid security concerns for Chinese companies and workers, observers said on Sunday.
Three suspects were arrested Saturday, less than 48 hours after the murder of three Chinese nationals, according to the Chinese Embassy in the African country.
A search operation began Saturday night, Interior Minister Henri Wanzet-Linguissara told Chen Dong, the Chinese Ambassador to the Central African Republic.
The arrest of more suspects and a judicial investigation will start soon, said the minister.
Chen called on authorities to do everything necessary to find and punish the criminals as well as to ensure the safety and other legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in the country.
According to a Chinese Embassy report, a boat carrying four Chinese and a local youth capsized Thursday in the town of Sosso-Nakombo.
A Chinese survivor left the scene to try to report the incident to local authorities.
After hearing of the young man’s disappearance, bandits attacked and killed three Chinese and seriously wounded the fourth.
On Friday, the ambassador had a telephone conversation with President Faustin-Archange Touadera and met Prime Minister Simplice-Mathieu Sarandji and Wanzet-Linguissara after the deadly attack.
With the help of the embassy, the injured person was sent to the capital Bangui Friday and moved to Kampala in Uganda via United Nations aircraft on Saturday evening for further treatment.
At the request of the Chinese Embassy, security reinforcements were deployed to SossoNakombo where the attack happened, Wanzet-Linguissara told Chen at their second meeting on Saturday, according to an embassy press release.
Fifty-eight Chinese in the mining area were evacuated by police to the neighboring town of Berbérati, the statement said.
The country is politically unstable and some areas are not under government control, Liu Guijin, former Chinese government special representative for African affairs, told the Global Times on Sunday.
The embassy might issue a travel alert but a mass evacuation was unlikely for isolated cases like this, Liu said.
The Chinese Ambassador reassured Abdoul Karim Meckassoua, president of the country’s national assembly, that China-Africa cooperation was the trend of history, and that solid steps by both China and Africa to build a community of shared future will not be hindered by violence.
The incident will affect Chinese confidence in Africa as it’s one of the most serious incidents in recent years in terms of casualties, Liu Hongwu, director of the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal University told the Global Times Sunday.
“Investment in Africa is about balance. Safety has been a major concern of Chinese companies and workers,” Liu said.