06/10/2022
As its alarm grows over the safety of Chinese citizens working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s high-stakes mining industry, Beijing is deploying criminal investigators to help halt kidnappings in the African nation.
Eager to better protect Chinese businesses and citizens in the mineral-rich country, Beijing recently sent a delegation led by Liu Jingjie, head of the criminal investigation bureau at China’s Ministry of Public Security, to meet with Congolese security officials.
The high-level bilateral discussions included the DRC’s deputy prime minister and interior minister, Gilbert Kankonde Malamba, as well as members of its national police, immigration department and intelligence bureau.
Later the Chinese embassy in the DRC spoke of “police cooperation between China and the DRC, strengthening the security protection of Chinese nationals” in the country. The discussions also addressed rescuing kidnapped Chinese citizens and the difficulties Chinese nationals encounter in obtaining documents in the DRC.
“The Congolese side is willing to further strengthen communication and coordination with the Chinese side to better understand China’s demands, to deepen bilateral cooperation in the security field,” the embassy said in a statement.
China has massive interests in the DRC, principally in mining. China sources 60 per cent of its cobalt needs from the DRC. Cobalt is an essential component of batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones, tablets and laptops.
As the world’s largest lithium-ion battery maker, China’s relationship with the DRC is arguably indispensable. The DRC produces more than 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt.
But a volatile security situation plagues the DRC, especially in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu. The Congolese army is fighting a rebel movement in the two provinces called the March 23 Movement (M23). The DRC accuses neighbouring Rwanda of supporting the M23 militia in North Kivu, a claim Kigali denies.
With eastern DRC supplying vast amounts of minerals, including gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum, Chinese nationals working there have been caught up in the worsening security situation.
In November last year, five Chinese nationals were kidnapped by gunmen at a gold mine in South Kivu. Congolese officials said in June that the five had been released, but did not disclose whether a ransom had been paid.
Observers say kidnappings are common in that part of the DRC, targeting local residents and expatriates alike.
Chinese who work in the mining industry are “likely to carry a lot of cash with them”, according to Christian-Geraud Neema, a Congolese mining analyst. “Money is the main reason for these kidnappings.”
During its meetings with Liu, the DRC pledged “to take measures to protect the lives and legitimate rights and interests of foreign nationals in the DRC, including Chinese citizens”, according to the Chinese embassy’s statement.
The embassy in Kinshasa described the security situation in the DRC as “severe and complicated”. It said the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, and Haut-Uele faced extremely high risks of armed attacks and kidnappings. The embassy urged companies to speed up their evacuations of Chinese nationals in the four provinces.
Beijing’s concerns in the DRC extend further. In the mineral-rich Katanga region in the southeast where a considerable number of Chinese work, the embassy warned of a high likelihood of serious security challenges. It cited armed robberies involving Chinese companies and citizens in Kolwezi, Lubumbashi, Likasi and elsewhere in the region.
On Sunday, Dai Bing, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, called on armed groups operating in eastern DRC to immediately lay down their arms.
“China expresses its support for the Congolese government and urges armed groups in eastern DRC to … respect calls for peace and participate in political dialogue and disarmament and demobilisation processes,” Dai said in a statement. He advised that the situation in eastern DRC had become unstable.
“Violent conflicts have escalated, resulting in many casualties,” Dai added. “Armed groups such as the M23 have caused large numbers of casualties and millions of displaced people.”
The envoy urged the UN Security Council to respond favourably to a DRC government request to lift the arms embargo imposed on the country in 2003 when it faced armed tensions, especially in its eastern provinces.
Beijing’s worries over its nationals’ safety in Africa date at least as far back as 2011, when China had to evacuate almost 36,000 citizens from Libya, according to David Shinn, a China-Africa expert at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a former US ambassador to Ethiopia.
“The single biggest threat to the Chinese community in Africa is ordinary crime,” Shinn said.
China has tried a variety of precautions on the continent ranging from enlisting private security companies to providing special training for African police and security personnel.
The situation in the DRC resembles the experience of Nigeria, which has also drawn upon the expertise of security officials from China’s Ministry of Public Security. The West African nation has for years witnessed a rise in kidnappings targeting foreign nationals, including Chinese.
Gunmen in June attacked a local mining site in central Nigeria. Security personnel were killed, and four Chinese nationals were kidnapped.
Concerned about the security situation in Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, the Chinese ambassador to the country, announced Beijing would send criminal investigation experts to help tackle the country’s security challenges.
Beijing’s aversion to deploying soldiers en masse and outside multilateral mandates such as peacekeeping despite its expanding interests has led it to employ a “hybrid” approach, according to Paul Nantulya of the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies at the National Defence University in Washington.
The China model “leans heavily on developing intricate police, law enforcement, and intelligence cooperation with African countries, building the capacity of host countries to surveil, and if need be, thwart threats to Chinese interests”, Nantulya said.
Increasingly, that means permitting Chinese special police units to undertake joint special operations with local parties, as was the case in Uganda recently, he added. Security contractors figure into “this security mix”.
A study in July by the Washington-based National Bureau of Asian Research found that Beijing had established community and police cooperation centres in some countries like Ghana and South Africa specifically for Chinese nationals.
Nantulya said China was quickly emerging as the destination of choice for African countries to send their police officers for training. He said at least 2,000 African law-enforcement personnel were trained in China between 2018 and 2021.
And between 2003 and 2017, China loaned African borrowers US$3.5 billion for security purposes to purchase communications systems, patrol ships, closed-circuit television systems, and police vehicles, the study noted.
By 2020, China had also built at least 186 sensitive government facilities, including 32 police and military posts through loans and grants, Nantulya added.
However, cooperation with African countries would probably be limited to cases where Chinese citizens were involved and only when Beijing sought government participation in an investigation, said Andreas Velthuizen, a professor specialising in peace, conflict and security studies at the University of South Africa.
“China is usually quite open about these kinds of agreements, especially in countries where it will be difficult to hide because of open democratic societies,” Velthuizen added. “It will be difficult to hide Chinese involvement in Nigeria and the DRC, impossible in South Africa and probable in securitised countries.”
I HAVE READ THESE, FOUND IN REMAINDER BIN
A FASCINATING CHINESE DETECTIVE NOVELPosted by Mal Warwick | Historical mysteries, Mysteries & Thrillers |
Robert van Gulik’s series of 16 Judge Dee mysteries are set in China sometime during the era of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). They’re grounded in his intensive scholarly study of ancient Chinese detective stories, some of which he has translated into English. The Chinese Maze Murders was the first novel in the series.
THE BOOK’S HISTORICAL BASIS
In a postscript to the book, Van Gulik explains that the character of Judge Dee is loosely based on a Chinese magistrate who achieved fame as a detective some hundreds of years before the Ming Dynasty. Judge Dee was a favorite protagonist in detective novels written for hundreds of years thereafter. He also explains that “In most Chinese detective novels the magistrate is engaged in solving three or more totally different cases at the same time.”
THE CHINESE MAZE MURDERS (JUDGE DEE #1) BY ROBERT VAN GULIK @@@@ (4 OUT OF 5)
MANY MYSTERIES IN A CHINESE DETECTIVE NOVEL
In The Chinese Maze Murders, there are six interwoven mysteries that Judge (magistrate) Dee must solve with the help of his four trusted lieutenants. However, the judge himself recognizes only “three real cases. First, General Ding’s murder [in a locked room]. Second, the case Yoo versus Yoo [over an inheritance]. Third, the disappearance of [blacksmith] Fang’s daughter. [The other three] must be viewed as local background. They are separate issues and have nothing to do with the substance of our three cases.” Nonetheless, every one of the six cases posed a puzzling mystery.
Oh, and by the way, there are two additional problems confronting Judge Dee and his colleagues: a criminal has seized power in the border town where Judge Dee has been assigned and is terrorizing the populace, and a conspiracy is afoot to enable the hostile “barbarian” tribes to invade and plunder the town. In other words, The Chinese Maze Murders is unlike any present-day detective novel. No contemporary writer of detective fiction would attempt to maneuver through so many plots and subplots in a single volume. But Van Gulik pulls it off.
ASSESSING THE BOOK AS LITERATURE
Van Gulik’s depiction of the customs and the criminal justice system of ancient China is fascinating. As a mystery story, it’s less successful, if only because Judge Dee proves to be impossibly discerning, combining the brilliance of Sherlock Holmes with the combat skills of a Special Forces officer. The author’s writing is also annoying at times. The book is laced with typos and hard-to-explain grammatical errors, and Van Gulik has the exasperating habit of placing an exclamation mark after almost every sentence uttered by Judge Dee.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert van Gulik (1910-1967) was a Dutch novelist, diplomat, and musician who authored 16 Judge Dee novels after translating an 18th century Chinese detective novel on which he based the series.
FOR ADDITIONAL READING
For a taste of a contemporary Chinese detective novel, you might take a look at Death Notice by Zhou Haohui—A detective novel by one of “China’s top three suspense authors”. Please note, however, that I don’t recommend the book.
For an abundance of great mystery stories, go to Top 20 suspenseful detective novels (plus 200 more). And if you’re looking for exciting historical novels, check out Top 10 historical mysteries and thrillers reviewed here (plus 100 others).
And you can always find my most popular reviews, and the most recent ones, plus a guide to this whole site, on the Home Page.
No comments:
Post a Comment