Diplomatic Protection

How embarrassing is it when you pay for a building project in order to win goodwill in a foreign country, only to see the workers from your country complaining against their employer also from your country, fighting with the local police and in the end having to be evacuated back home on a chartered plane? That is what occurred in Equatorial Guinea where Chinese workers went on a strike against the Chinese company that employed them over payment disputes. The problem is strikes are illegal in Equatorial Guinea, and the workers ended up clashing with the local police, resulting in two deaths and four injuries. The Chinese Government lodged a protest with Equatorial Guinea and flew 200 workers back home.