Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao instructed in Riyadh Sunday the foreign ministry as well as Chinese embassies and consulates in Papua New Guinea and other countries to take measures to practically protect the security of the overseas Chinese in Solomon Islands and help them tide over the current hardships facing them.

Hu also extended his warm greetings to the overseas Chinese in the riot-torn South Pacific state.

Violent protests erupted in Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands, on Tuesday night, reportedly triggered by the election of Snyder Rini as prime minister by 50 lawmakers chosen at an April 5 parliamentary election.

Reports said dozens of Chinese-owned shops in the Chinatown in Honiara were looted. There were injuries but no death to the local Chinese following the two-day looting.

There are over 400 Chinese living in Honiara, amongst whom, over 180 are Chinese nationals.

The Chinese embassy in Papua New Guinea has contacted the Solomon Islands police to secure the life and property safety of the Chinese people. Until now, the police have moved about 400 Chinese to a camp in the Police headquarters, and they are currently quite well protected.

The Chinese embassy in Papua New Guinea said they are also trying to send staff to Solomon Islands for further assistance to the Chinese there.

A curfew was called across the city on Wednesday and police were given the power to arrest people on suspicion of inciting violence and hold them without charge for up to a week.

According to Radio New Zealand, a tense calm has settled Thursday over the Solomon Islands after 180 Australian soldiers and police arrived in the capital Honiara to quell violent protests. Now a peacekeeping force from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji is patrolling the capital.

Hu flew here from the U.S. state of Connecticut after a state visit to the United States. Saudi Arabia is the second leg of his five-nation tour, which will also take him to Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya.

Source: Xinhua