Beijing — Dozens of Chinese nationals who had been held for illegal mining in Zambia have departed the African country to return home, China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday. China complained that Zambia had provided no strong evidence of crimes committed by the 31 arrested in the copperbelt town of Chingola, including a pregnant woman and two victims of malaria. But Zambia’s immigration chief told Zambian media the Chinese would have to be deported for violating the law. "After repeated representations by China’s Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Zambia, on the afternoon of June 6, the 31 Chinese citizens that had been seized and detained boarded a plane and left Zambia smoothly to return home," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. In a letter, the 31 had expressed their "satisfaction" with the Chinese embassy’s efforts on their behalf, Hua told a regular news briefing. Chinese companies have invested more than $1bn in copper-rich Zambia, but there has been animosity, with...
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