Beijing asks Democratic Republic of Congo to help gain release of kidnapped Chinese miners
- Foreign Minister Wang Yi makes the request of his DRC counterpart at a meeting on the sidelines of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
- Two Chinese citizens were killed and five kidnapped in a militia attack on a gold mine on November 21
Beijing wants the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to secure the release of five Chinese miners kidnapped in the country last week even as its embassy ordered Chinese nationals to leave three provinces in the Central African nation.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing was concerned about the worsening situation in the country “with a series of vicious crimes that have recently happened in the DRC involving kidnappings and killings of Chinese citizens”.
“China hopes that the DRC will secure the release of the Chinese in captivity as soon as possible and take resolute and effective measures to eliminate hazards,” Wang said in a meeting with the DRC’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Christophe Lutundula, on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dakar, Senegal.
Wang said the resource-rich country should strengthen the protection and safety of Chinese citizens and create a secure and stable environment for bilateral cooperation.
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On November 21, the Chinese embassy in Kinshasa and Congolese government officials announced that two Chinese citizens had been killed and five others kidnapped in a militia attack on a gold mine in the country’s troubled eastern region.