Government of the Central African Republic suspends Chinese mining company over alleged links to armed groups

BANGUI, Central African Republic – The government of the Central African Republic has suspended the operations of a Chinese mining company in the country, accusing the company of collaborating with armed militias, a government decree said.

In the decree published on Saturday, the country’s Ministry of Mining accused Chinese gold and diamond mining company Daqing SARL of “collaborating with armed groups, illegal exploitation, illegally introducing foreign persons into mining areas, non-payment of taxes and lack of activity reports.”

Daqing SARL was operating in Mingala, a city in the south of the Central African Republic that has been plagued by fighting between the country’s armed forces and the Coalition of Patriots for Change, an anti-government armed group.

The Central African Republic has been in conflict since 2013, when predominantly Muslim rebels seized power and ousted President Francois Bozizé from office. Mainly Christian militias resisted.

A 2019 peace agreement only reduced the fighting, and six of the 14 armed groups that signed the agreement later left. Following the agreement, the Coalition of Patriots for Change was formed in 2020.

Despite its enormous mineral resources of gold and diamonds, the country remains one of the poorest in the world. Rebel groups have been able to operate with impunity in the contested country over the past decade and prevent foreign companies from searching for gold.

Many of the mines operating in the country today are run by Chinese and have struggled with security problems. Last month, four workers were killed at a Chinese-run gold mine in an attack that the local government blamed on the Coalition of Patriots for Change. Last year, nine Chinese nationals were killed at another gold mine in the Central African Republic. The government blamed the same rebel alliance for the attack. In 2020, two Chinese nationals died when local residents led an uprising against a Chinese-run mine in the south of the country.