An American media recently published an article saying that Chinese working in Africa face kidnapping threats. The article also cited Chinese official and media articles to analyze the reasons for the threat: the Chinese have money and will pay the ransom.
Kidnapping for lucrative ransoms has become big business in some African countries, analysts say, and the crime affects not only Chinese citizens but other foreign workers as well.
Because of China’s massive presence on the continent, whether in oil or other industries, it is inevitable that the Chinese will often be targeted, they say.
The Chinese government has not ignored the issue. Earlier this month, Chinese officials and representatives of Chinese companies in Nigeria held a video conference to discuss security issues.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, and China is a key partner, having invested billions of dollars over the years. According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins China-Africa Research Program, some 8,616 Chinese were working in Nigeria in 2020 (a number is questionable).
Nigeria is home to the Islamist rebel group Boko Haram and opportunistic criminal gangs known locally as “bandits” who routinely kidnap locals but also pose a huge threat to foreign workers.
Nigerian President Buhari has often vowed to crack down on insurgent groups and armed gangs in the country, and a new bill passed by the Senate last month makes it a crime to pay ransoms.

Why Chinese?

When asked why the Chinese might be the preferred target of kidnappers, Cobus van Staden, a senior fellow at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said: One factor is that you see in African countries that the Chinese have a lot of cash on hand.”
Chen Hanqing, an engineer working in Nigeria, described himself and many Chinese nationals working on infrastructure projects in Africa as a “sweet spot” for the kidnappers.
Chen told the Global Times, China’s state-run newspaper, that the Chinese were the main targets of violent militants, and a fellow kidnapped by the armed group described the experience as “hell on earth”.
Van Staden said it was difficult to get exact numbers of Chinese kidnapped in Africa because “these cases are often not released from law enforcement or China”. When victims were released, and whether ransoms were paid, it wasn’t always reported.
“We do know that in some cases, in terms of how China handled it, they did pay the ransom,” he said.
Van Staden said Chinese companies are increasingly using private security companies to protect workers. He noted that Frontier Services Group, based in Hong Kong and Beijing, recently provided security services for Chinese executives visiting construction sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The meeting earlier this month was attended by Chinese officials and stakeholders, and was also attended by Yin Guohai, head of the working group of China’s Ministry of Public Security, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Cui Jianchun, and Consul General Chu Maoming. Also present were representatives of a number of Chinese companies operating in Nigeria, including Dejin Mining and Dahua Paper.
According to a summary of the meeting on the website of the Chinese embassy in Nigeria, Yin Guohai praised the Nigerian authorities for “promoting the successful destruction of a number of kidnapping gangs and the rescue of many kidnapped Chinese citizens.”

Ambassador Cui Jianchun said Chinese people working in China still face many safety risks that “pose a serious threat to production” and affect workers’ quality of life.
Earlier this year, three Chinese nationals working on a Chinese hydroelectric dam in central Niger state were kidnapped by militants and two of their local colleagues were killed.
Last year, militants kidnapped four Chinese railway project workers in Nigeria’s Ogun state and killed the police escorting them. The workers were released less than a week later, according to media reports, with the Daily Mail Nigeria reporting that they paid an “undisclosed” ransom.
Nigeria is not the only place where Chinese companies face security threats.

Other countries

The mineral-rich and conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo is another country where kidnappings have occurred. In November last year, five Chinese nationals working in a gold mine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were kidnapped.
The kidnappings prompted the Chinese embassy in the Democratic Republic of Congo to issue an alert, warning citizens not to travel to high-risk provinces there, and prompted China’s foreign ministry to issue a warning about security risks in the African country, the Global Times reported.
Shortly after the warning was issued, the local government said that a mining camp in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo had been attacked by militiamen, people had been kidnapped and two Chinese nationals had been killed.
Van Staden noted that China has issued warnings and that ongoing meetings between Chinese officials and the Nigerian government indicate that the kidnapping issue is “clearly of high concern”.
Oluwole Ojewale is an analyst at the Security Institute based in South Africa. He said extremist groups or criminal gangs were looking for lucrative ransoms.
Because of this, Ojewale noted, he thinks big Chinese companies will now set aside funds to deal with such security risks, either by paying ransoms or using private security personnel to protect employees.
Asked whether the level of threat China faces in Africa would lead to a drop in foreign direct investment, Ojewale said profits could outweigh security concerns. Africa is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to build and invest in infrastructure in various regions of the world to facilitate trade.
“I don’t think Chinese companies will pull out … no matter how volatile the environment is,” he said.