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The Chinese embassy in Venezuela's economic and commercial affairs office was robbed of over US$14,000 on Saturday, a spokesperson with the Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed.
 
At 10 AM local time, eight armed men, wearing no masks, broke into the office and threatened the Chinese diplomatic staff with guns. They ordered the staff to hand over the key to the office safe before binding their arms and legs with ties and telephone wires.

Within twenty minutes, the men made off with US$10,000 in cash and US$4,000 of local currency. No-one was injured in the incident.

The embassy immediately reported the incident to the Venezuelan authorities and informed the Venezuelan ministries of foreign and domestic affairs.

Chinese public security officials on Monday met with Venezuelan military officers and asked the police to ramp up their investigations into the case. Calls also came for stronger measures to ensure the security of Chinese citizens, diplomats, organizations and companies in Venezuela.

The Ministry of Commerce expressed great concern Monday over the robbery and called for the tightening of security measures to ensure the safety of its staff.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing Monday also urged the Venezuelan Government to take concrete measures to protect Chinese and their properties.

In another development, the president of a group representing Ecuadorian oil companies on Sunday criticized the takeover of a Chinese consortium's pumping facilities by local people.
 
The president of the Hydrocarbon Company Association of Ecuador, Rene Ortiz, stated on Sunday that international companies have been "blackmailed" by indigenous communities.

The complaint came a day after 300 protesters ended a three-day seizure of Chinese consortium Andes Petroleum demanding increased job opportunities for the local community.

Over 40 Ecuadorean employees were taken hostage, although all have been released unharmed, according to an informed source from China National Petroleum Corporation, which leads the consortium.

Protesters in Ecuador's Amazon region seized the Andes Petroleum's oil installations in Tarapoa, a jungle city 240 kilometers from the capital Quito, slashing its crude output from 42,000 barrels per day to 14,000, the company said on Friday.

The company said that the incident interrupted its normal production and caused huge losses.

"Our installations in Tarapoa are completely under the control of protesters," the company said in a statement released on Friday.

The company refused to negotiate with protesters under such pressure, blaming leaders personally for the illegal activities, the statement said. The Fourth Division of the Ecuadorean Army had been mobilized to help clear out the protesters.

In the past, Ecuador's powerful indigenous movement has often targeted large oil companies, demanding jobs for local communities facing crippling unemployment.

(China Daily November 14, 2006)