Chinese firms told to integrate with local people

Remarks come after a suicide attack on a bus injured three Chinese workers, two security personnel and a driver

BEIJING: Chinese counter-terrorism experts have said that overseas Chinese companies should integrate with local people to prevent potential terror attacks.

Overseas Chinese companies should work closely with local authorities, establish clear communication channels with security organisations and integrate with local people in order to deal with potential terror attacks, Zhao Huirong, a research fellow of Central Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.



They should strengthen management and avoid potential safety hazards by enhancing employers' safety awareness, Zhao said.

The remarks came after a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden truck near a bus on Saturday in the Dalbandin area of Chaghi district, Balochistan, injuring three Chinese workers, two local security personnel and a civilian driver.

A Chinese staff member at an Islamabad-based security service provider said that if a Chinese company is participating in a project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in Pakistan then the local authorities provide security.



If not, the company must hire security personnel itself, he said.

"The province of Balochistan is a region in Pakistan where terrorist activities are relatively intense. Separatist forces there believe that any development activity in their territories violates their interests, and that is the reason why they launch terror attacks," Li Wei, a counter-terrorism expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, said.

For the Gwadar Port project, the Pakistani government arranged 10,000 soldiers and as many law enforcement agencies personnel to protect the joint project and ensure construction.