Chinese Businesspeople Shoot Zambians . . . And The Case Is Dropped

A while back, two Chinese business people were reported to have shot their Zambian workers in a Zambian mine. No one was killed but the two Chinese people were arrested. Now the case has been dropped and the government prosecutor has given no reason for doing so.

However, one Zambian rightly wonders: “Imagine a Zambian shooting a Chinese manager . . . We are sure such a person would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law." If an African had shot a Chinese in China, the Chinese government would have even hung the African, given the Chinese government's penchant for killing people. But when Chinese people shoot Africans, the case is simply thrown out of court as a case that "is really about a clash of cultures, people from conflicting backgrounds who don’t understand how to deal with each other.” This case is not about a clash of cultures. Just as it is not okay to shoot people in China, it should not be okay to shoot people in Zambia. This is not about cultures; it is about actions that are criminal and those that are not. Culture should not be dragged into the matter in order to give Chinese citizens a pass because they invest in Zambia.