China will send a chartered plane on Monday to evacuate Chinese
nationals in riot-torn East Timor. Some 200 citizens have sought
shelter at the embassy.
"As the situation in East Timor is deteriorating and some people
have been killed or injured, the Chinese government will on Monday
send a chartered plane to evacuate Chinese citizens there,"
according to a statement released by the Chinese Foreign
Ministry.
The evacuees are expected to arrive in Xiamen, a coastal city in
east China's Fujian Province, on Monday night.
Violence erupted in East Timor late last month after the East
Timorese government decided to sack almost half of the country's
soldiers who had protested against poor conditions and staged a
strike.
The situation deteriorated on Thursday when at least nine people
were killed and 27 others wounded in clashes.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday that "no
Chinese citizen has so far been injured or killed in the
violence".
There are about 500 Chinese citizens in East Timor, and many
have already left, the ministry said.
The ministry will send a team to facilitate the evacuation
mission.
On April 25, the ministry issued an advisory against traveling
to East Timor.
"Chinese citizens in East Timor shall pay high attention to
their safety, make emergency preparations and maintain contact with
the Chinese Embassy," according to another travel advisory posted
on Thursday on the ministry's website.
By Saturday, nearly 200 Chinese citizens had sought shelter at
the embassy where they were given tents, food, water, medicine and
other essentials.
As a result of the escalating violence, East Timorese President
Xanana Gusmao decided to postpone his China visit, which was
originally scheduled for May 29 to June 3.
It is reported that several other countries including the
Philippines have also started evacuating their citizens from East
Timor.
East Timor, which shares a land border with Indonesia's West
Timor, was a Portuguese colony before it was occupied by Indonesia
in 1976. The country gained independence in May 2002 after 25 years
of Indonesian rule to become the world's newest nation.
(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2006)