MULTAN: The five Chin­ese engineers and workers who had clashed with police in Khanewal last week were brought to Lahore from where they were deported to China on Tuesday.

On April 4, the Chinese workers, who had been engaged in the construction of a 126km portion of the Gojra-Khanewal Motorway from Dinpur to Khanewal, had placed heavy machines on roads linking Kabirwala to Khanewal, Kabirwala to Makhdoompur, Abdul Hak­eem to Khanewal and Noor­pur to Kabirwala as a protest. They had also clashed with a special protection unit of the police who had been deputed for their security.

The workers, who were deported, include the company’s country project manager Xu libing, administation officer Tian Weijun, mate­rial and equipment engineer Wang Yifan, financial affairs manager Wang Yifan and field engineer Tan Yang.

Sources said that the workers had violated the security protocol set in place. They were unhappy with restrictions on their movement and ban on visits by outsiders at night. The workers had demanded that the special protection unit staff be moved outside their camp.

Following the clash between the police and Chinese nationals, Commissioner Bilal Butt called a meeting and formed a committee comprising Khanewal Deputy Commis­sioner Muzaffar Sial and District Police Officer Rizwan Umer Gondal to probe the matter.

After recording statements of both sides, the committee recommended that the entire staff of the special protection unit be shifted outside the Noorpur Camp [where the Chinese live] and be replaced with a new contingent. They called for action against Shahbaz, a member of the special unit, who had snatched cell phones from the Chinese nationals during the scuffle.

The committee recommended that the five Chinese nationals who had clashed with the police be declared persona non grata, as they had caused the clash. The committee noted that the workers should have realised the sensitivity of the situation — the camp they reside in is classified A, based on the security threat to it — and should not have taken the law into their own hands. The company must be direc­ted to ensure SOPs regarding security, they said.

Mr Sial said the five Chi­nese workers were depor­ted to China after the recommendations had been forwarded to the home department.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2018