BEIJING (AP) — A group of Chinese workers was freed Wednesday, a day after being taken hostage in Egypt, while another group of workers remained captive for a fifth day in Sudan, in separate incidents that show the dangers China faces as its worldwide presence grows.
China has developed strong economic ties in volatile nations in Africa and elsewhere, in large part to meet its growing needs for energy and other raw materials. At the same time it is facing growing pressure at home to protect citizens who fall into harm’s way abroad.
Twenty-five Chinese who work at an Egyptian state-owned cement factory were grabbed Tuesday on their way to work in the northern Sinai city of el-Arish but were freed in good condition, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. Their captors, Xinhua said, were Egyptians who had blocked the road outside el-Arish for days to demand the release of relatives detained for attacks in the Sinai years ago and to demand an end
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