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由于越来越多的外国人被绑架，中国大使馆已经向其在中非共和国的公民发出警告，要求他们留在首都内。然而，一伙枪手冲进一个偏远的金矿，杀死了9名中国工人。中非政府指控一个主要的反叛组织策划了这次袭击，但反叛分子否认了这一点，并指责第三方。
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调查留下了许多未解之谜，包括为什么在袭击当天该矿只有四名士兵保护，以及受害者的身份，他们的尸体在事件发生后不久就被火化了。这次袭击凸显了中国政府面临的日益严峻的安全挑战，因为他们的公司正在向政府和武装团体不稳定的冲突地区扩张。
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中国工人在尼日利亚、刚果民主共和国和巴基斯坦等国面临越来越多的威胁。中国军队在海外的存在极少，投射武力的能力也有限，但中国领导人习近平一直在积极努力地塑造一个更加民族主义的国家形象。这给政府带来了保护其海外公民的压力，导致中国国民撤离苏丹。
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中非共和国发生杀戮事件后，中国版Twitter的微博上有人讽刺说，这次袭击与 "战狼 "电影中的中国形象不一致，这是一对民族主义的中国动作电影。然而，微博对这些评论进行了严格审查，而是突出强调了中国国家主席习近平的尖锐公开指责，他呼吁对袭击者进行严惩。
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围绕瓦格纳可能参与的指责对中国来说特别敏感，因为习近平主席正在加强与俄罗斯的关系，以制衡美国及其西方盟友。瓦格纳是克里姆林宫支持的私营企业网络，参与安全、政治影响和资源开发，自2018年以来一直是中非共和国的主导力量。黄金海岸集团是一家中国公司，在袭击发生时正在钦博洛村附近的地区开设一个新的金矿。
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外国公司在中非共和国的存在已经引起了与当地人的紧张关系，而中国公司收购该矿区可能引起了愤怒。然而，中非共和国司法部长Arnaud Djoubaye Abazène表示，叛军 "毫无疑问 "是这起杀人事件的幕后黑手，并感谢 "我们的俄罗斯盟友 "逮捕并杀害了一些涉嫌袭击者。
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瓦格纳公司负责人叶夫根尼-普里戈津在对问题的书面答复中说，“匪徒杀死了中国人”。
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"匪徒被发现了，"普里戈津先生写道。“这里没有什么可讨论的。”
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但是研究人员和西方外交官说，对矿工的杀害并不符合反叛组织过去针对中国公民的情况。这些组织通常会绑架中国工人，向他们的雇主索取赎金，而这种处决式的暗杀是非常不寻常的。
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两名从北京派来的中国官员出席了司法部长的新闻发布会。他们说，他们尚未能进入犯罪现场。
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该矿自3月19日以来一直被关闭。杀人事件发生后不久，中国遣返了大约80名公民。
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The Chinese embassy had issued a warning to its citizens in the Central African Republic to stay within the capital city due to increasing kidnappings of foreigners. However, a group of gunmen stormed a remote gold mine and killed nine Chinese workers. The Central African government has accused a leading rebel group of orchestrating the attack, but the rebels have denied this and blamed a third party.
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The investigation has left many unanswered questions, including why the mine was only protected by four soldiers on the day of the attack and the identities of the victims, whose bodies were cremated shortly after the incident. The attack has highlighted the growing security challenge for the Chinese government as their companies expand into conflict zones with unstable governments and armed groups.
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Chinese workers have been facing increasing threats in countries such as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pakistan. China’s military has a minimal presence overseas and a limited ability to project force, but Chinese leader Xi Jinping has aggressively worked to project a more nationalist image of the country. This has put pressure on the government to protect its citizens overseas, leading to the evacuation of Chinese nationals out of Sudan.
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After the killings in the Central African Republic, people on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, commented sarcastically that the attack did not align with the portrayal of China in the “Wolf Warrior” movies, a pair of nationalistic Chinese action films. However, Weibo heavily censored these comments, instead highlighting a sharp public rebuke by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who called for the attackers to be severely punished.
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The accusations around Wagner’s potential involvement are particularly sensitive for China, as President Xi Jinping is strengthening ties with Russia to counterbalance the United States and its Western allies. Wagner is a Kremlin-backed private network of firms involved in security, political influence and resource exploitation, and has been a dominant presence in the Central African Republic since 2018. Gold Coast Group, a Chinese company, was opening a new gold mine in the area near the village of Chimbolo at the time of the attack.
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The presence of foreign companies in the Central African Republic has caused tensions with locals, and the acquisition of the mining site by a Chinese company may have caused anger. However, the Central African Republic’s justice minister Arnaud Djoubaye Abazène has said that the rebels were “unquestionably” behind the killing, and thanked “our Russian allies” for arresting and killing some of the suspected attackers.
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, stated in a written response to questions that “bandits killed the Chinese” and that “there is nothing to discuss here”. However, researchers and Western diplomats have noted that the killings of the miners did not fit the profile of how rebel groups have typically targeted Chinese nationals in the past.
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Rebel groups have typically kidnapped Chinese workers to extract ransom from their employers, making execution-style assassinations highly unusual. Two Chinese officials dispatched from Beijing attended the justice minister’s news conference and said that they had not yet been able to access the scene of the crime.
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The mine has been closed since March 19 and China has since repatriated about 80 citizens shortly after the killing.