Citizens warned against traveling to Solomon Islands
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-24 21:17
China is warning its citizens against traveling to the
Solomon Islands, where looting and rioting following the election of a new prime
minister has mainly targeted Chinese.
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A Chinese woman
and her child prepare to board a chartered flight provided by Beijing out
of the troubled Solomon Islands after losing all their possessions in the
recent violence in Honiara April 23, 2006. Australia is sending additional
troops to the Solomon Islands, as more Chinese fled the country on Sunday
amid rising tensions before parliament opens for the first time since
post-election rioting. [Reuters]
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"The situation remains tense and the possibility of further rioting still
exists," according to a travel advisory posted Sunday on the Foreign Ministry's
Web site.
Violence erupted in the Solomons Islands' capital, Honiara, last Tuesday, a
day after lawmakers elected Snyder Rini as prime minister.
China sent diplomats to the Solomon Islands last week to help ensure the
safety of Chinese targeted in the rioting.
Some 300 Chinese evacuees from Honiara were expected to arrive in Guangzhou,
the capital of China's southern province of Guangdong, on Monday night on a
government charter flight, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Local government officials said they would help the evacuees, many of whom
emigrated from Guangdong or who have relatives there, get in contact with family
members, Xinhua said.
On Sunday, about 150 Chinese whose livelihoods were destroyed returned to
China.
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