Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 26 -- China said it is taking steps to improve the safety of its overseas workers following an Apr. 24 attack on an oil exploration site in Ethiopia in which nine Chinese workers were killed and seven taken hostage. Also killed in the attack were 65 Ethiopian employees of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Co., the China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) subsidiary that operates the site.
"In view of recent incidents concerning the safety of overseas Chinese, China's related departments are carrying out an evaluation of overseas safety to ensure sound economic and trade cooperation between the Chinese enterprises and foreign countries," said Liu Jianchao, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
He said China, seeking to rescue the kidnapped workers, has dispatched a working group consisting of the Commerce Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and Sinopec to Ethiopia to assist the Chinese Embassy. Liu did not reveal any measures taken or proposed for rescuing the workers. A Chinese embassy spokeswoman, who expressed hope for an early release of the hostages, said there were some positive signs, but she declined further comment.
Abderahmane Mahdi, a spokesman for the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), which claimed responsibility for the attack, warned against any effort to rescue the workers. "If the authorities are launching an armed operation to recover the Chinese, it might be very dangerous for the lives of these men," said Abderahmane, who added that the group wanted to release the workers unharmed, provided certain (undisclosed) conditions were met.
Meanwhile, a Sinopec spokesman said the company has no plans to cease operations but has launched an emergency plan alerting all overseas project personnel to be very cautious regarding security.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
