|
AS the Chinese and world economies become increasingly integrated,more and more Chinese travel, work and study overseas. Annual tripsabroad by Chinese nationals rose from a mere 280,000 in 1978 whenChina opened up to the world to more than 60 million in 2010, andcontinue to grow. From 2005 to 2011, the number of Chinese workersabroad rose from 3.5 million to 5.5 million, and at present morethan 16,000 Chinese enterprises operate in other parts of theworld. The growing global presence of Chinese people, however, has beenaccompanied by a steep rise in instances of violence againstChinese abroad. The Foreign Ministry handles close to 30,000 casesevery year concerning its people's security in other countries. A Grim Threat In recent years, there has been a slew of news stories aboutChinese people being kidnapped, attacked or killed in foreigncountries. Two such incidents made headlines at the beginning ofthis year, when a construction crew in Sudan and later a group ofcement plant employees in Egypt were kidnapped, raising concernsabout the security risks for Chinese citizens abroad. In reality, these risks are high for anybody heading to a conflictzone, whatever their nationality. The Middle East and Africa havelong been regions of great uncertainty and tension that threatenforeign citizens and businesses there, especially over the pastyear of political turmoil in the former. In some cases Chinese people have been the unintended casualties ofclashes between vying factions in conflict regions. In others theyhave been targeted as victims. Though the charitable and commercialprojects Chinese companies are involved in benefit the nationaleconomy of host countries, their activities can infringe upon localor tribal interests, making Chinese workers the target ofretaliation. One of the most shocking instances of this was the June 2004shooting of Chinese workers laying roads in the city of Kunduz innortheastern Afghanistan that left 11 dead and four injured. InFebruary 2006, three Chinese engineers were shot dead in thePakistani town of Hub, near Karachi. There are also repeatedreports of crimes against Chinese travelers and businesspeople,such as the murder of a Chinese merchant during an armed robbery inJohannesburg in August 2004, and an incident in 2006 when severalChinese were held hostage for ransom in Nigeria. Government Actions The Chinese government has taken action in response to theseevents, and made an admirable start to improve security for Chinesecitizens and organizations outside its borders. In 2004, the StateCouncil met specifically on this topic, and the following yearissues around protecting the lives and legitimate rights andinterests of Chinese nationals living abroad were included in theannual report on the work of the government. Guidelines for consular protection and services, updated annually,were introduced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as early as2000, and since 2004 a raft of further measures has been introducedin response to the increasing security incidents abroad. In July2004 the ministry established the Department of External Security,whose responsibilities include reporting on external securityissues, making policy recommendations and overseeing relatedactivities. In May 2006 the ministry set up a consular protectionoffice under the Department of Consular Affairs, and at presentseveral Chinese embassies and consulates employ police liaisonofficers to handle diplomatic and security issues experienced byChinese citizens. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also devised an emergencyresponse mechanism with Chinese embassies and consulates. Once thealarm is raised, a contingency team is summoned to make anemergency plan. Hotlines between authorities provide a constantflow of updates on the situation that enable officials to makeappropriate decisions and coordinate their actions. Thanks to these contingency teams, Chinese embassies and consulatescan provide a more professional and efficient service to Chinesecitizens. In the past few years this emergency response mechanismhas proved effective in a number of negotiation, mediation andevacuation maneuvers. Last year the most striking of such situations occurred whenChinese authorities removed tens of thousands of citizens out ofLibya in what was the largest and most complicated evacuation inPRC history. This huge operation involved the close coordination ofsix major government bodies, including the Ministry of PublicSecurity and the Civil Aviation Administration, and several Chineseairlines and shipping companies. In addition to 76 flights on AirChina, China Eastern and China Southern, vessels from ChinaShipping and COSCA, vehicles and ocean lines were charted locallyand from neighboring countries to remove Chinese citizens from thewar-torn country. A total of 35,860 Chinese citizens safelyreturned to their homeland. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Multi Port KVM Switch , China Industrial Panel PC, and more. For more , please visit Touch Screen Industrial Panel PC today!
Related Articles -
Multi Port KVM Switch, China Industrial Panel PC,
|
