A total of 82 Chinese citizens have been evacuated from Lebanon
to Syria by Tuesday and most are on their way back home, Chinese
Foreign Ministry said Tuesday evening.
The evacuees included seven compatriots from Hong Kong, a
foreign ministry statement said.
Some embassy officials have also been evacuated, but others will
stay behind to pay close attention to the safety of those Chinese
citizens who remain in Lebanon, the statement said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry and the embassy officials are working
on measures to evacuate the rest Chinese citizens in case of
emergency.
Israel has intensified its air raids on Lebanese targets since
launching a massive assault on July 12 when Lebanon's Hezbollah
guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in
cross-border attacks.
The Chinese government has been highly concerned about the
safety of Chinese citizens in Lebanon.
Closely following the development, the Chinese Foreign Ministry
launched the emergency response mechanism last week.
The ministry also issued two advisories warning Chinese citizens
against traveling to Lebanon.
Since last Friday, the Chinese embassy in Lebanon has started to
evacuated Chinese citizens .
Before the evacuation, Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei
talked via telephone with ambassadors from related countries,
informing them of the Chinese government's decision to evacuate the
citizens and seeking cooperation from their countries to safeguard
the security of Chinese nationals.
Thanks to the coordinating efforts with the Syrian border
departments, the Chinese Embassy in Syria helped the Chinese
evacuees' resettle in the country.
The Chinese Embassy in Israel also launched its emergency
response mechanism and issued an advisory warning Chinese citizens
against traveling to the raid-plagued region.
The Chinese Embassy in Israel even facilitated Chinese citizens
to leave the raid-torn north region of Israel.
Governments around the world have been scrambling to evacuate
their nationals from Lebanon as the intense Israeli offensive in
the country entered its seventh day on Tuesday in the worst
fighting across the border in more than two decades.
In April and May this year, China evacuated some 243 and 325
Chinese nationals, including Hong Kong compatriots, respectively
from the unrest-hit Solomon Islands and East Timor.
(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2006)