Hundreds of Chinese and Bangladeshi labourers in deadly clashes at Beijing-backed power plant near Dhaka
- Locals accuse the Chinese of trying to cover up the death of a Bangladeshi worker at the construction site about 200km south of the capital
- Police said more than 6,000 people – including some 2,000 from China – work at the power plant site
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Hundreds of Chinese and Bangladeshi labourers clashed at the site of a power plant being built south of Dhaka, police said on Wednesday, leaving a Chinese worker dead and more than a dozen others injured.
Police said the violence was triggered by the death of a Bangladeshi worker at the site of the China-funded 1,320-megawatt plant, prompting locals to accuse the Chinese of trying to cover up the incident.
At one point, hundreds of Bangladeshi and Chinese workers were fighting at the site – about 200km south of the capital – and more than a dozen were injured, including six Chinese who were taken to hospital.
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“One of the Chinese workers later died in the hospital. He had injuries to his head,” local police chief Monirul Islam said, adding it took more than 1,000 police to restore calm.
The presence of large numbers of Chinese workers in Bangladesh, as in other countries where Beijing is investing heavily, has caused some tensions with locals, and officials said similar clashes occurred a year ago.
Police said more than 6,000 people – including some 2,000 from China – work at the power plant site.
Regional administrator Ram Chandra Das said authorities have ordered a probe into the incident.
“The situation is now calm,” he said, adding no arrests had been made.
Move over, ‘Made in China’. It’s the ‘Made in Bangladesh’ era now
In April 2016, four people were killed after police opened fire on villagers protesting against the construction of two China-backed power plants in southeastern Bangladesh.
The latest clashes occurred just weeks before Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is to visit Beijing.
China’s investments in Bangladesh are part of Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, a sweeping trillion-dollar infrastructure programme across Asia, Africa and Europe that is viewed with suspicion in the West.
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