Chinese in Chad allege police extortion, embassy urges caution

More than 50 Chinese citizens in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, claim to have been shaken down by local police under the pretext of a security check since May 16, according to the Chinese embassy to Chad.

The Chinese victims were mostly individual merchants or laborers, Shu Shi, a consul from the Chinese embassy, told the Global Times on Monday.

Shu said the victims were taken to a local security department after failing to show a valid ID or work permit, and they were then asked to wait for hours for their case to be dealt with. They would then have to pay fines ranging from 30,000 Central African CFA francs ($59) to 150,000 CFA francs without receiving a receipt or an official reason for why they had been targeted.

"They came in with guns and asked us to show our IDs or work permits on May 16. I didn't have my permit on me right then, so they took my customers and me on the back of a pickup truck, and drove us to the security department. We all felt humiliated that way. They didn't allow me to leave until one of my relatives came and paid 100,000 CFA francs to the authorities," said a supermarket owner Wu Longguang.

The Chinese embassy released a notice on Thursday to remind local Chinese residents in Chad to have valid IDs or working permits with them and to contact with the embassy if they are victims of extortion.

The government of Chad has apologized to the Chinese victims after the Chinese embassy negotiated with them, and promised to report the result of a further investigation to China as soon as possible, the embassy's notice said.

"The government of Chad has been on alert after Chad withdrew its military forces from Mali for fear that there could be domestic terrorist attacks," Qian Jin, a counselor of the Chinese embassy, told the Global Times Monday.

"Under strong pressure of national security, the government of Chad has strengthened security checks of foreign nationals recently, which apparently crossed the line when it came to the Chinese residents of N'Djamena," Qian said.