Incident is sign of worrying security climate in Olympic host city: expert
More than 40 employees of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei were robbed by armed people who broke into the canteen of the company's branch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 9, Huawei confirmed with the Global Times on Thursday.
Huawei employees had just entered the dining hall in the city's Botafogo neighborhood at 12:50 p.m. local time on Wednesday, when about six or seven armed people took the valuables of more than 40 employees, including mobile phones and jewelry, according to an insider.
Victims told the police that the GPS services of the stolen phones showed they are now in one of the city's slums, said the source.
One slightly injured employee was sent to the hospital, Huawei confirmed with the Global Times via telephone.
Bai Chunhui, the commercial counselor at China's Consulate in Rio de Janeiro, said the case has been reported to the local police. Bai also noted that the consulate is gathering more information and will soon meet with the Brazilian side about the issue.
The security situation in Brazil has been worrying for a long time, and attacks on employees are a common threat faced by foreign companies, Zhou Zhiwei, executive director of the Center for Brazilian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
He elaborated that the situation has worsened during the past two years due to the country's poor economic performance and unstable political situation. "Many people are still struggling with poverty because of a lack of education and employment, while poor city planning and management has not helped dismiss those concerns," he added.
Zhou noted Chinese workers are easy targets, as they usually carry a lot of cash.
A former Huawei employee based in Brazil told the Global Times that Huawei's staff dormitories in Sao Paolo have been robbed by gunmen several times recently, and the staff are on high alert.
The company has been strengthening safety measures, including hiring more security guards, to protect employees based overseas, Huawei said.
Rio will face a severe security challenge during August's Olympic Games, when the country will be thronged with athletes and media from around the world, Zhou added.
About 57,000 troops, together with 28,000 police officers and other security forces, will be deployed to patrol during the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio, the Xinhua News Agency reported in July 2015.
"It will be the biggest integrated operation in the history of our country," Rio security secretary Andrei Passos Rodrigues said. The security presence will be significantly larger than the 40,000 deployed in London in 2012.
