China expresses concern over robbery at embassy office in Venezuela

China's Ministry of Commerce has expressed its concern over the robbery of the economic and commercial affairs office under the Chinese embassy in Venezuela.

"We are paying close attention to this," a spokesperson for the ministry said on Monday.

At 10 a.m. on Nov. 11, local time, eight armed men, without masks, broke into the office in Caracas and threatened the Chinese diplomatic staff with guns. They ordered the staff to hand over the key to the office safe before binding their arms and legs with ties and telephone wires.

Twenty minutes after they had broken in, the men made off with 10,000 U.S. dollars in cash and 4,000 U.S. dollars of local currency. No one was injured in the incident.

The embassy reported the incident to the local Venezuelan authorities immediately and informed the Venezuelan ministries of foreign and domestic affairs.

The spokesperson said the ministry had expressed its sympathy to the staff and ordered security measures to be tightened at the premises.

Chinese businesses and nationals in Venezuela have also been told to take preventative measures to safeguard their safety and property, the spokesperson said.

Officials from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security met with a military attache at the Venezuelan embassy in China on Monday and urged the Venezuela side to speed up investigations into the case.

The Chinese side also called on Venezuela to take measures to ensure the security of Chinese citizens, diplomats, organizations and companies.

Source: Xinhua