Following a series of subsequent incidents in East Timor, Chad, Lebanon, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Thailand, Haiti, and later Libya and Egypt, the necessity to protect Chinese nationals abroad became a more pressing necessity. First emerging in the 1990s, Chinese PSCs became more prominent after 2004, when 11 Chinese construction workers were killed in Afghanistan by the Taliban (, June 10, 2004). The development of Chinese private security companies (PSC) has been shaped by tragic incidents involving Chinese nationals abroad. This article seeks to provide insights into the growth of China’s private security industry, which to date has not been as closely examined.Ĭhinese PSCs in Transition: The Milestones Previous work by this author has detailed many aspects of the growing use of Russian private military companies in unstable regions and conflicts throughout the world ( Jamestown, multiple dates).

In this evolving environment, other instruments-to include the growing Chinese private security industry-are attaining a crucial role.

However, traditional means of security assurance do not always correspond to the new realities and the new needs of China’s increasing overseas presence. The PRC has also sponsored the “Beijing Xiangshan Forum” (北京香山论坛, Beijing Xiangshan Luntan) which has been promoted as “the security component” of the BRI, and as a cooperative framework intended to strengthen military-technical cooperation with BRI-associated countries ( Belt and Road News OctoChina Brief, November 19, 2019). The PRC has sought multiple means to improve regional security in BRI-affiliated countries, to include promoting a greater role for the Central Asia-based Shanghai Cooperation Organization ( China Brief, July 16, 2019). Many of these workers are either employed, or in the near future could be employed, along Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) routes that traverse over some of the world’s most unstable and dangerous areas ( China Brief, FebruChina Brief, April 1). By late 2016, more than 30,000 Chinese businesses had invested offshore (with a total investment of $1.2 trillion) and nearly one million Chinese citizens were working abroad ( China Daily, July 14, 2017). One of the key ideas behind these bases is to provide security to Chinese workers and businesses abroad. In addition to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Support Base in Djibouti, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has indicated ambitious plans for future “strategic strong point” naval bases in the Indian Ocean and Africa ( China Brief, March 22, 2019), and has pursued this goal with varying degrees of success ( China Brief, April 13).

Tian tao chinese nationals 2016