21 Indian diamond traders have been arrested in China under the charges of smuggling diamond. But none of them were arrested in actual act of smuggling, all the Indians were arrested while in their homes or from their offices or banks. Also, the authorities have seized a lot of diamonds from them but all those were accounted for. It is difficult to build defense for them as the Chinese authorities have provided very little information. Only one of the detained person’s wife has got notice, other 20 do not even have any information on this front.
Our View: By looking at various news sources which are emphasizing on link between these arrests and that done
by Indian police for collapse of a 241 meter tower in September. The arrests of 3 Chinese engineers took place 2 days after that on Indian Diamond traders in Shenzhen, China. But note that the arrest of Chinese engineer got delayed as they were hospitalised. Though the link can not be ruled out but Indian diplomats in India and China feel that the arrests are de-linked. Embassy personnel had met them individually in Chinese jail and have got a written statement that they are being treated well and vegetarian food is being given to them as per their demand. Another point to note is that the traders were invited from India by the Chinese government to set up Diamond trade in China. They helped develop the diamond trade there in big way in a short time. We should be careful in publishing the issue as it can have direct consequence on the traders arrested. But one thing is very clear, we need to be very watchful, precise and clear about the Chinese way of handling things; It would not hesitate from going to any extent to protect rights of Chinese engineers. This could mean a lot of diplomatic tussle ahead for us.
Link:
http://story.chinanationalnews.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/9366300fc9319e9b/id/588596/cs/1/
http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/jan/14/how-india-should-handle-the-shenzhen-arrests.htm