Assailants in Egypt released 25 Chinese workers kidnapped on Tuesday, even as tensions appeared to rise between China and Sudan over Chinese held by rebels there.
The abductions underscored a hard truth for Beijing: As China has extended its investment and presence into the world's trouble spots, its people have become targets.
Confusion continued to surround the kidnapping over the weekend of 29 Chinese workers by Sudanese rebels. Sudanese officials on Monday said they had freed 14 of the hostages, but on Tuesday Beijing asserted—and Sudanese officials later confirmed—that the 29 remain in the hands of Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North.
China's surge to become the world's No. 2 economy in recent years has sharpened its appetite for oil, iron ore and other raw materials. That has put China in a number of places other investors might fear to tread, from Pakistan and Libya to Egypt and Sudan. As a result, governments of unstable countries have come to rely on Chinese capital and know-how, making companies and officials from China sought-after partners. For insurgents and criminal gangs, the Chinese can be sought-after targets, raising questions about how well Beijing protects its citizens abroad.
"Because Chinese tend to work in enclaves in Africa, you have by definition a concentrated group of targets," says Harry G. Broadman, chief economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers and an expert on China-Africa trade. "So if you're in the hostage taking business that facilitates things."
Corporate China's appetite for risky investments stems from a drive to break into global markets largely unpopulated by western rivals. As a result, previous incidents in which Chinese personnel were kidnapped, or killed, haven't slowed China's efforts to invest and secure resources in troubled areas.
"This will be seen—by the government anyway—as part of the learning curve and the price to be paid in 'going global,' " said Deborah Brautigam, a professor at American University and an expert on China's business interests in Africa.
Citing an official at the Chinese embassy in Cairo, China's state-run Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday that 25 Chinese cement-factory workers in Egypt's northern Sinai region had been released unharmed after being kidnapped on Tuesday on their way to work. No further information was immediately available. Xinhua didn't further identify the kidnappers, though the Associated Press reported they were an al Qaeda-inspired group demanding the release of militants imprisoned after a 2005 bombing. It was unclear which company employs the workers.
Deeply insular tribal communities, including Bedouins, have been engaged in running battles with Egyptian security forces since the summer of 2010. But violence in the sparsely populated peninsula spiked after police voided Egypt's streets during the revolution last year. Many Bedouin leaders say they were forced into the smuggling and kidnapping business by a lack of job opportunities.
Meanwhile, in Sudan, the kidnapping of the Chinese workers appeared to be leading to a diplomatic rift between the two close allies. In an unusual move, the Foreign Ministry summoned Sudan's charge d'affaires in Beijing, Omer Eisa Ahmed, and "lodged urgent representations" over the matter, according to Xinhua. Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng told Mr. Eisa that he was "deeply shocked" by the abductions and said "the Chinese side urged the Sudanese side to keep in mind the overall situation of bilateral friendship and cooperation," Xinhua said. Calls to Sudan's Embassy in Beijing went unanswered.
The two countries on Tuesday continue to disagree on basic facts surrounding the incident, including the number originally kidnapped on Saturday.
Rabie Abdelaty, a Sudan government spokesman, attributed the discrepancy of the reports to miscommunications with personnel in the field. Sudanese forces continued their efforts to free the hostages on Tuesday, he said, but the task may have become more difficult after the rebels moved deep into mountainous territory. "We shall continue with the military operations until we rescue all of them," he said.
Beijing appears to be frustrated with the Sudan rescue operation. Citing China's Foreign Ministry, Xinhua said on Tuesday that personnel from the ministry and from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission—which oversees China's biggest state-owned enterprises—have departed for Sudan to assist with rescue efforts. The Foreign Ministry didn't respond to requests for comment.
Analyst estimates from 2010 put the number of Chinese citizens working in Sudan at about 24,000, including both Sudan and South Sudan.
Long a major destination for foreign investment, China has begun to spend its own money abroad. Outward flows of foreign direct investment totaled $68 billion in 2010, according to United Nations data, more than triple the figure of three years before. China's workers also have gone abroad: 847,000 Chinese workers officially worked in other countries in 2010, according to Ms. Brautigam, with ut oabout 229,964 Chinese workers in Africa.
The past year's events have illustrated China's growing presence abroad, especially in places that traditionally have had trouble attracting foreign investment. In February 2011, China evacuated more than 35,000 of its citizens from Libya amid a national rebellion. Xinhua said in October that one Chinese oil worker in Sudan had been shot and killed and another had been wounded by unidentified assailants. Also in October, 13 Chinese sailors on a cargo vessel were killed on Thailand's portion of the Mekong River
China's government only in very limited circumstances uses its police or military to protect citizens outside China's borders, despite growing calls at home to be more aggressive. Sudanese military officials said on Tuesday that the Chinese camp attacked over the weekend was lightly guarded, though that claim couldn't be independently verified. A senior Chinese diplomat in Ethiopia said China's Foreign Ministry typically issues travel advisories for trouble spots, much like the U.S. State Department, and it's up to the individual companies to heed them.
That situation may be changing. In Sudan, a dozen armed Chinese private security contractors have joined more than 1,000 Sudanese troops in the current rescue effort, according to Sudanese military officials.
A potential diplomatic rift between the countries could be painful for Khartoum, which relies on Beijing for crude purchases as well as political protection for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity in the Darfur region. Mr. Bashir denies the accusations.
Additionally, China has been instrumental in brokering a peace between Sudan and the newly independent South Sudan, and has worked in recent months as a mediator in resolving an ongoing oil transit dispute between the countries.
The Chinese workers are being held by an armed wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, which serves as a key opposition force to Mr. Bashir's rule. Khartoum claims the rebels receive orders and funds from South Sudan, where a leading political party is also called the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The rebels say they are independent of South Sudan's government.
Of the two nations' oil fields, most are located in South Sudan but supplies must travel by pipeline to ports in the north for export.
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