China: 30 mil chineses evacuados da Libia

Seria interessante saber quantos milhares de ocidentais estavam ou estão na Líbia. Talvez, no total, não alcancem a cifra de chineses.
Império é isso aí.

China starts evacuation of 30,000 from Libya
Shanghai Daily, 25/02/2011, Page A2

AROUND 4,600 Chinese had left Libya by yesterday in China's largest-ever evacuation, the rescue of about 30,000 nationals stuck in the riot-torn north African state.

China's first chartered flight to evacuate its nationals left Tripoli for Beijing yesterday afternoon, with 200 Chinese aboard, most of them women and children, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu.

The government dispatched the second chartered flight early yesterday.

Meanwhile, two groups of Chinese evacuees returned China through commercial flights yesterday.

The first group of 43 arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport yesterday morning. Another group of 40 Chinese arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in the afternoon.

The workers were employed by China Building Technique Group Co Ltd.

Ma said China would continue to work on the ground to protect the country's interests.

"Relevant agencies and officials posted abroad will continue to coordinate and make every possible effort at every possible moment to ... protect the lives and property of Chinese citizens and preserve China's national interests," he told reporters during a regular press briefing.

China has called for a return to stability in Libya, and said it will "spare no efforts" in evacuating its citizens.

Chinese embassies in the region were arranging evacuation efforts by air, sea and land, Ma said, with more than 4,600 Chinese nationals already back in China or sent to "safer third countries."

An estimated 30,000 Chinese nationals were awaiting evacuation, and the figure was changing as the evacuation proceeded, said Du Minghao, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Libya.

It was expected to be China's largest-ever evacuation, said Gao Zugui, director of the Institute of World Politics of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

China has suffered severe economic losses as a result of the political turmoil in Libya, it said yesterday.

About 75 Chinese companies were operating in Libya, involving about 36,000 staffers and 50 projects, said a statement on the Ministry of Commerce website.

As of Wednesday, 27 Chinese construction sites or camps had been attacked and robbed, with injuries reported but no deaths so far, the MOC statement said.

Armed gangsters

Armed gangsters attacked some Chinese companies, institutions and project camps in Libya, robbing them of grain and leaving people with shortages of materials, said the statement.

The ministry did not give a monetary value for the losses.

The evacuation was carried out by sea, air and land.

More than 4,000 Chinese left Libya yesterday on two Greek liners chartered by the Chinese Embassy in Greece, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

Chinese companies, including China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, had actively participated in the evacuation, Ma said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Egypt said it had received more than 400 Chinese who left Libya by road.