On the morning of March 19, a group of unknown persons attacked a gold mine in central Central Africa, killing nine Chinese citizens and injuring two others, but no one else was injured. Judging from some of the information announced, this group of people should be rushing to Chinese, and from the details of the scene revealed by some people, the scene is very tragic, this group of people after controlling the security of the mining area, the 9 Chinese were shot and shot, with a gun against the back of the head and shot, from the scene pictures, the victims were all lying head to the ground, bleeding near the head.
Recently, the security situation outside the capital of Central Africa has been very chaotic, and the relevant parties have once again issued reminders not to travel to and withdraw from some areas. In the long term, violence against Chinese in the African region is not uncommon. According to statistics from earlier years, more than 60% of overseas attacks on Chinese citizens occurred in Africa, followed by Central Asia, Southeast Asia and South America.
So, what have been the attacks on Chinese people in Africa in recent years? Why do such incidents often occur in Africa?
Take stock of the Chinese attacks that have occurred in Africa over the years
In January 2007, five Chinese workers in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria were kidnapped and eventually released through the efforts of the embassy and local authorities. Twenty days after the incident, a Chinese oil company in southern Nigeria was attacked by unidentified armed men, leaving nine Chinese missing.
In April 2007, an unidentified armed group of more than 200 people was attacked on a construction site in the Zhongyuan oil field in southeastern Ethiopia, in which nine Chinese workers were killed, seven Chinese were abducted (later rescued), and 65 locals were killed.
In October 2008, nine employees of Sudanese PetroChina were abducted on a construction site by unknown persons, eventually killing five others.
In May 2010, two oil workers from a drilling company owned by PetroChina in Yemen were detained by armed men and rescued shortly after.
In January 2012, 29 Chinese were kidnapped and abducted by unidentified armed men at Sinohydro in Sudan, and were successfully rescued 10 days later.
Also in January 2012, 25 Chinese workers from the Tianjin Cement Design Institute were detained by Bedouins in Egypt and released shortly after.
In August 2012, one Chinese died in a labor dispute in a Chinese-funded coal mine in Zambia.
In November 2012, four Chinese were killed in an attack by unidentified armed men in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria.
In February 2014, seven employees of a Chinese-owned company were attacked by four assailants near the suburbs of Zambia's capital, one of whom was killed and six others were injured to varying degrees.
In May 2014, Cameroonian extremist groups attacked a Chinese camp in northern Kapolar region, in which 10 people lost contact.
On November 20, 2015, three executives of CRCC were killed in an attack in Mali.
In November 2019, an employee of a Chinese company in Mali was kidnapped, one person was kidnapped and another driver was injured.
In April 2021, two Nigerian Chinese citizens were kidnapped and released six days after the incident.
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Most of the above incidents are reported cases that have been widely concerned, in addition, there may be some cases that have occurred but not been reported, and according to the incidents, these attacks are roughly divided into two categories: one is that some overseas projects of Chinese enterprises have been attacked or kidnapped by armed elements, and most of the enterprises are mainly oil, construction and mining; The other is Chinese robbed or killed by locals in the process of conducting overseas trade.
Sinister work environment
Some envied the high salaries of staff sent to Africa, but did not see how dangerous the conditions in which they worked in some places were.
During the construction of the Benguela railway in Angola, there was an unwritten rule that it was best to walk in the footsteps of others. In that place that has just experienced war, the reconstruction process is full of dangers, a large number of mines are buried in the ground, people can only clear mines while constructing, even so, there will still be many missed mines, once encountered, the light can hurt the arm and leg, the worst directly lose life.
When many people first arrive in Africa, one of the training they receive is that when they encounter robbery, the other party will give them whatever they want, and do not resist, because resistance is meaningless, and it is more important to save your life than anything else.
In many places where the security situation is not good, people try not to go out for activities, especially at night, even if it is shopping, more than several people need to go together. Even so, there will be trouble to come to the door, and there have been locals who directly pried open the door to the house and robbed with knives, they have no scruples at all, the purpose is your belongings.
Of course, some companies will choose to hire local security guards, but according to the experience of those who have come over, most of these security guards are useless, and they may run faster than anyone else when they do encounter a situation.
Working in Africa, in addition to the visible dangers, there are also some dangers that are invisible, because the medical conditions are not good, there are often epidemics there, and some people are infected with malaria or parasitic diseases every once in a while, and the pain is unspeakable.
Therefore, although the subsidies for work in Africa can be higher, the money is not easy to get, and in some places it can be said that life is exchanged.
Some reasons for analysis
Based on the cases of events that have occurred in Africa over the years, some people have analyzed the main reasons for the occurrence of these vicious events.
The first is cultural differences and communication issues. Because of the early colonial rule in Africa, the languages of various places are not uniform, English, French, Arabic and Portuguese are available, and most of the Chinese people go out to use English as a second language, and in some places they cannot communicate with the locals. On the other hand, huge cultural differences have also invisibly widened the distance between people, for example, some recruited local workers believe in religion, often stop to pray during work, which is a little incomprehensible in the eyes of the Chinese, and some complaints will inevitably appear in management, affecting mutual relations; In addition, some locals focus on enjoying life, work is only a way to get a salary, after receiving the salary they will "say goodbye" and only consider finding the next job when there is no money to spend. Different attitudes to life and ways of dealing with things also bury hidden dangers for some contradictions.
The second point is because some people in the local area think that Chinese "rich". Chinese loves to save money, and many people who go to work in Africa also save money, and then return to China to subsidize their families after saving enough money there. This also led to some local people having evil thoughts after seeing the large amount of cash in the hands of Chinese, which in turn led to some vicious incidents. The way of paying ransom to save people after being kidnapped successfully rescued the hostages actually fueled the evil thoughts of these people.
Moreover, it is the bad guidance of some Western public opinion, in the propaganda of those old colonizers who withdrew from Africa, smearing China as a new "colonizer", and saying that China's aid and construction operations in Africa are "plundering resources in disguise", which also leads some locals to be wary of Chinese, even hostile, and these emotions are easy to lead to some extreme behaviors after accumulating.
Conclusion: Chinese tenacious, able to endure hardships, under such difficult conditions in Africa, there are still a large number of Chinese people who stick to and dedicate themselves to the front line. At the same time, Chinese is also kind and never wants to hurt others in exchange for his own comfort. However, there is an old saying in Chinese called "the heart of defense is indispensable", when going out, you must still protect yourself, especially in the often turbulent African area, always pay attention to the official reminders, and do what is required, which is the most basic safety protection requirement for yourself.
Nine lives implicated in nine families and more loved ones, and we hope that this incident can be clarified as soon as possible, severely punished the murderer, give an explanation to the family of the deceased, and let the deceased rest in peace.