Details about How Chinese Embassy in Guinea-Bissau Was Robbed

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 14, 2003

Details about How Chinese Embassy in Guinea-Bissau Was Robbed

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At about 11:30 on the night of February 10 local time (February 11 Beijing time), Chinese Ambassador Gao Kexiang to Guinea-Bissau and two other embassy staff were abducted by four gunners when they were returning to the official residence after work. Facing danger fearlessly, Ambassador Gao skillfully dealt with the gunmen for over four hours, finally he succeeded in escaping danger and thus preserved State secrets.

According to a report of Beijing Youth Daily, currently, the state of injury of Ambassador Gao is stable, the Chinese medical team sent in in support of the country is giving all-out medical treatment to the ambassador and other wounded.

Beijing Morning Post made a detailed report on this incident. It is learned that leaders of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, after receiving the related report, immediately extended sympathy and solicitude to the embassy staff, and through diplomatic channels, demanded that the Guinea-Bissau side apprehend the murderers as quickly as possible and adopt measures to ensure the safety of Chinese diplomats. Guinea-Bissau's president, prime minister, foreign minister and minister of civil affairs had respectively gone to the Chinese embassy to see and comfort Ambassador Gao on the morning of February 11, and indicated that they would do their best to seize the assailants and protect the safety of Chinese embassy staff.

The ambassador's three ribs were broken, accountant's wife secretly reported to the police

Ambassador Gao briefed Beijing Morning Post on the event. At around 11:30 on the night of February 10 local time, after a day's busy work, attendant Li Chong drove a car, carrying Ambassador Gao and electrician Song Hongbin, to the embassy residence which is a 15-minute drive from the embassy. Because the official residence is located in an out-lying suburb, and there was no streetlight, the embassy personnel did not perceive the danger before them. Just at the moment of their approaching the door of the residence, four ruffians, armed with pistols, machine-guns, knives, grab iron and other lethal weapons, abducted the above three men into the residence.

Later, the evildoers resorted to violence with the lethal weapons against the Chinese personnel, the ambassador's left back was stabbed by a sharp knife to a depth of 2-3 cm, three of his ribs were broken by grab iron and his right shank was swollen, currently, he has difficulty getting around. After searching for property for over two hours, the scoundrels still did not stop, they bound Song Hongbin hand and foot and kept him in the washroom, they forced Ambassador Gao and Li Chong to drive to the embassy where they continued their plundering.

When the car reached the door of the embassy, Ambassador Gao had a good idea at the crucial moment, lying that Chinese embassy staff living opposite the embassy were needed to open the door. So, he told the embassy accountant Lin Hai about the incident in Chinese which was incomprehensible to the robbers. Lin Hai came out to open the door in defiance of the danger, while Lin Hai's wife Yao Bin stealthily reported the case to the police of Guinea-Bissau. Ambassador Gao said that that was the only chance for the embassy staff to escape danger.

The police crossed fire with the ruffians, Chinese staff seized the chance to escape danger

After the ruffians abducted Ambassador Gao, Li Chong and Lin Hai into the embassy, they forced the latter to open the safe. Although at that time no Chinese embassy staff knew the cipher, in order to stall for time, however, Ambassador Gao pretended to open the safe, dealing with the evildoers for more than one hour. Finally, having no alternative, he gave a phone call to the cashier who was then in Portugal on official business, only then was he able to open the safe.

At around 4 o'clock in the morning, after getting the property, the ruffians abducted the ambassador and two others to go toward the embassy door together. Just at the moment when the ambassador opened the embassy door, the police hurried in at hearing the news, they confronted and crossed fire with the ruffians, the three Chinese embassy personnel under duress seized the chance of chaos to shake off the devil's clutches, or hid themselves behind the car parked outside the door or behind the trees in the embassy garden until the police beat back the robbers. Fortunately, none of the Chinese embassy staff sandwiched between the robbers and the police was hit by stray bullets during the fighting.

The ambassador narrated an event that moved him a great deal, saying "when the ferocious enemies threatened to chop off my fingers, it was Comrade Li Chong who pushed the ruffians away at the critical moment. Immediately thereafter, he was also given bashes and kicks by the robbers." Li Chong only came to Guinea-Bissau not long ago, he is young but unmarried, at the age of 26-27 years old. Other embassy personnel were also fearless in the face of danger, Li Hai's head was injured, Song Hongbin's left eye was beaten to bleeding. At present, they are getting medical treatment in the embassy for the time being.

Local police keep the clue, Chinese embassy staff remain calm

According to an analysis by the Guinea-Bissau police, the robbing incident was a premeditated action taken by the robbery gang, the 30-odd-year-old man shot dead was a native of Sierra Leone wanted by the police, the clues of the other three evildoers are also in the hands of the police.

According to Ambassador Gao, the social order of Guinea-Bissau has all along been rather poor, cases of robbery have occurred from time to time, but cases of robbing foreign embassies in Guinea-Bissau are rarely seen. Due to the fact that Guinea-Bissau is locally rather poor, the road lamp at the door of the embassy residence has to be lighted by electricity generated by the embassy staff themselves, the place becomes pitch dark when night falls, so dark that you can't see even your own fingers; and the embassy residence is situated in the out-of-the-way district on the outskirts, which is a fairly eye-catching building and thus becomes the target of robbery for the criminal gang.

Ambassador Gao said that the feeling of the embassy personnel remains quite stable after the calamity, the only thing unsatisfying to them is that the body of the ruffian shot dead was placed in the center of the embassy courtyard and not moved away until the afternoon of that day.

The ambassador said, "The present condition of the embassy is rather harsh, it has only 14 personnel, two of them are away on official business. After the embassy experienced such a great calamity, it is necessary for the ambassador to stabilize the feeling of the personnel here, so I must direct everyone here to continue working."

Ambassador Gao Kexiang indicated that he and other embassy personnel will surely live up to the great trust of the motherland and the people, hold fast to their work posts and do their work well.

By People's Daily Online

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