FIVE years ago, when terrorists hijacked passenger planes to attack targets in New York and Washington, thousands of people, involving citizens of 87 countries, including China, were killed.
There were 18 Chinese companies operating in the World Trade Center. And three Chinese citizens were killed on board a hijacked airliner.
At the time, the target was not China but the United States. In the intervening years, while China is still relatively safe from terrorists, Chinese increasingly have become targets of kidnappers and other terrorist activities.
This changing situation was underlined this week when, in the wake of China’s success in winning oil-exploration licences in Nigeria, militants in that country issued a warning to Beijing and to Chinese oil companies to stay away from the Niger Delta.
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Nigeria last week as part of a swing through the Middle East and Africa in the aftermath of his American trip. In Nigeria, the world’s eighth largest oil exporting nation, the two countries struck a deal under which China pledged to invest US$4 billion (RM14.5 billion) in infrastructure and Nigeria agreed to give the Chinese four oil drilling licences.
"We wish to warn the Chinese Government and its oil companies to steer well clear of the Niger Delta," said a statement emailed by an organisation called Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
"Chinese citizens found in oil installations will be treated as thieves. The Chinese Government, by investing in stolen crude, places its citizens in our line of fire."
MEND first appeared in December. It is a coalition of militias that demands more local control over the southern delta’s oil wealth. Since January, it has kidnapped 13 workers and killed at least 24 members of Nigeria’s security forces.
Ever since China decided to make economic development the country’s top priority, it has allowed large numbers of its nationals to work abroad.
In the Middle East, for example, there are large numbers of Chinese who work in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Sudan and Egypt.
In South Asia, Chinese workers are mainly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. More than 5,000 work on the Barotha Hydropower Project and on a project to expand the port of Gwadar, in southwestern Pakistan.
Up until recently, it was rare for Chinese to be targeted. In April 2004, for example, seven Chinese men were kidnapped in Fallujah, raq.
However, they were released 36 hours later when the kidnappers found out that they were not Japanese. The following month, however, a group of Pakistanis used a remote-controlled car bomb to attack Chinese engineers at Gwadar port, killing three and injuring nine others. In June, unknown attackers shot a group of Chinese railroad workers in their sleep in Had Bakhshi, in northern Afghanistan, killing 11 and wounding five.
And in October 2004, two Chinese engineers in Pakistan were abducted by terrorists, who demanded the release of several militants being held by the Pakistani Government. Pakistani forces launched a rescue operation and succeeded in freeing one of the Chinese engineers, but the other died in the rescue attempt.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, the Chinese Foreign Ministry set up a new department — the Department of External Security Affairs — to deal with security issues involving Chinese nationals in foreign countries. The department’s work was described as relating not just to anti-terrorism but also to international organised crime.
The Foreign Ministry website merely says this as its main function: "To implement the principles and policies of the foreign ministry concerning the non-traditional security field, in charge of related studies and analysis; co-ordinate and handle relevant foreign-related issues."
No doubt, the ministry works with internal Chinese security agencies where there is a need to carry out investigations overseas.
An article on the People’s Daily website at the time discussed the reasons for attacks on Chinese. It pointed out that such attacks were different from terrorist attacks on American citizens.
"After attacks on US citizens," the article said, "someone will claim responsibility for the attack, which shows their resentment of US, foreign policy and military operations. But nobody claims responsibility for attacks on Chinese citizens."
This, however, is a situation that may change. As a Chinese saying goes: "The big tree attracts the winds."
Right now, it is the big American tree that is getting most of the attention. As China rises, there will be times when it may antagonise one group or another, thus exposing its nationals to dangers as they travel or work around the world.
