Ghanaian officials have arrested 124 Chinese who were allegedly mining illegally in Africa, marking the largest crackdown of its kind in the recent past.
According to the Financial Times, these arrests bring attention to the unrest over China's increasing presence and monetary investment in Africa.
More than 2,000 Chinese companies have invested almost $20 billion in Ghanaian interests this year, in addition to the $200 billion it put into bilateral trade with the continent in 2012.
According to political director at the Chinese embassy in Accra Yu Jie, the 124 miners were being detained at an immigration holding center in the capital city of Ghana. He told the Financial Times that the apprehended had been granted access to the consulate and would be deported back to China shortly.
The 124 Chinese citizens were allegedly working illegally in Ghanaian gold mining fields-a trend that has steadily been growing as the price of the precious metal climbs.
Local miners say there could be a few thousand Chinese miners working in Ghana illegally.
Yu offered another figure, saying that, "there are more than 10,000 Chinese doing mining in Ghana."
Secretary-general Su Zhenyu gave yet another number when he claimed that an estimated 50,000 Chinese miners had arrived in the African country since 2005.
Many of the illegal immigrants hail from China's rural southwest province of Guangxi in Shanglin county. A large portion of the men there seek foreign outlets and locations for work, following friends and relatives who insist mining in Ghana is a 'good business opportunity.'
Despite some Ghanaian residents who don't mind the Chinese presence, many miners who must compete more diligently for jobs claim that the mass pilgrimage has caused social and environmental problems.
Chinese miners are now using bulldozers and other large machines, which stands in stark contrast to the small-scale mining kept for Ghanaians under their country's law.
Some claim that the Asian miners do not mend or rebuild their sites after they're done, either.
This causes tensions to run high in the mining areas, which CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines said might have led the Ghanaian government to act.
"For the first time in a long while, the government is acting resolutely to deal with this problem," Aubynn told the Financial Times. "It's not an anti-Chinese move, it's just that they have the most foreign nationals working in the sector."
But back in Mainland China, the arrests have angered Asian citizens who say the treatment is uncalled for.
Director of the African Economy Research Institute at Zhejiang Normal University Zhang Xiaofeng said that Chinese are subject to scrutiny and discrimination in Africa.
"There is jealousy and hate against Chinese because the Chinese are more hard working and have made some profits in Asia," he told the Financial Times.
