7 kidnapped Chinese workers flied back home

Source: Xinhuanet | 05-03-2007 08:45

Seven Chinese workers kidnapped in Ethiopia arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday, May 2, 2007. [Photo: Xinhua]

Seven Chinese workers kidnapped by Ethiopian rebels after an attack on a Chinese oil company in Ethiopia arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport Wednesday afternoon.

The workers, from an exploration bureau of the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, arrived at about 3 p.m. aboard an aircraft of the Etihad airways of United Arab Emirates from Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.

All seven were in stable health condition despite obvious tiredness after the terrifying experience. They are scheduled to return to their hometown in central China's Henan Province, in one or two days.

Wang Shengwen, head of a special Chinese team sent to rescue the kidnapped workers, said that the successful release was due to the help of some friendly African countries who helped contact the rebel group and urged it to release the workers as soon as possible. He also expressed thanks to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who had facilitated the release and safe return of the workers.

In the attack on the Chinese oil company's premises in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia on April 24, seven Chinese workers were kidnapped by a group of gunmen of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, who killed nine Chinese workers and 65 Ethiopian employees of the Chinese company during the attack.

Chen Jian, Assistant Minister of China's Ministry of Commerce, told Xinhua that despites such incidents concerning the safety of overseas Chinese, the government won't change its "Go-out" strategy and will continuously encourage domestic companies to explore overseas markets, including those in Africa.

According to statistics, overseas investment by Chinese multinationals, excluding the financial sector, surged by 32 percent year-on-year to reach 16.1 billion U.S. dollars last year.

Meanwhile, China handled more than 30,000 consular cases in the past year, including the killing of three Chinese company employees in a terrorist attack in Pakistan, and the kidnapping of Chinese engineers by militants in Nigeria.

"We are carrying out an evaluation system with other related departments to handle overseas safety and provide more effective and informative consultation for Chinese enterprises," Chen said.

Chen also called on overseas Chinese enterprises to fully estimate the risks and intensify their security measures.