Firms must integrate with locals: experts
Suicide attack on Saturday injures 3 Chinese workers in Pakistan
Chinese counter-terrorism experts said on Sunday that overseas Chinese companies should integrate with local people to prevent potential terror attacks following a suicide attack in Pakistan that injured three Chinese workers on Saturday.
Overseas Chinese companies should work closely with local authorities, establish clear communication channels with security organizations and integrate with local people in better dealing with potential terror attacks, Zhao Huirong, a research fellow of Central Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.
They should strengthen management and avoid potential safety hazards by enhancing employers’ safety awareness, Zhao said.
The remarks came after a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden truck near a bus on Saturday in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, injuring three Chinese workers, two local security personnel and a civilian driver. All of the injured are in stable condition, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.
The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan has requested the relevant Pakistani departments investigate the incident, bring the perpetrators to justice and take further effective measures to underwrite the security of the Chinese institutions and nationals in Pakistan, according to an official statement released on the embassy’s website on Saturday.
A Chinese staff member at an Islamabad-based security service provider told the Global Times on Sunday that if a Chinese company is participating in a project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan then the local authorities provide security. If not, the company must hire security personnel itself.
“The province of Balochistan is a region in Pakistan where terrorist activities are relatively intense. Separatist forces there believe that any development activity in their ‘territories’ violates their interests, and that is the reason why they launch terror attacks,” Li Wei, a counter-terrorism expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Hiring security personnel is not unusual for overseas Chinese companies.
One Chinese company in a South Asian country has six security personnel escorting a single Chinese employee to ensure his daily safety, China Economic Weekly reported.
For the Gwadar Port project, the Pakistani government arranged 10,000 national army soldiers and 10,000 local armed forces to protect the joint project and ensure the construction, the China Economic Weekly report said.
The Chinese Embassy warned in a notice released on its official website back in December that terrorists in Pakistan are targeting Chinese organizations and people, reminding Chinese organizations and nationals to enhance their safety awareness, strengthen their defense and avoid crowded locations.