Document #2014200
RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Author)
BISHKEK -- A Chinese company has suspended its operations at a Kyrgyz gold mine after clashes ensued between local residents and company workers.
Deputy Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov said on August 7 that the decision to suspend the activity of the Zhong Ji Mining company was made after tests performed in the area by an environmental safety commission.
Boronov's statement, which did not give further details, came two days after hundreds of local residents clashed with the mining company's employees near the Solton-Sary mine in Kyrgyzstan's east.
The residents were demanding that the company and its employees leave the area.
Kyrgyzstan’s Health Ministry said on August 7 that 47 Chinese citizens were injured during the clashes but none of them was hospitalized.
It is unclear how many Kyrgyz citizens were injured during the clashes. The ministry said that one Kyrgyz man remained in hospital on August 7.
The Chinese Embassy in Bishkek demanded in an August 6 statement that the Kyrgyz authorities "thoroughly investigate the incident, severely punish those responsible, and bring the situation to a fair and proper resolution."
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