Open plunder! Niger has openly issued an expulsion order to us, requiring all employees of China National Petroleum Corporation and China National Gas Group to leave its territory before May 31!

Niger is a very poor and backward country in Africa. The United States and France have withdrawn from the region due to their inability to withstand local armed harassment, abandoning their respective military bases. Over the years, our enterprises such as China National Petroleum Corporation and Sinopec have invested huge funds locally to help build several key oil fields. Our investments have brought a large number of job opportunities to the locals, provided relatively high wages for local workers, improved the living standards of the people, and helped the local government obtain substantial fiscal revenues.

However, after seeing the returns on our investments, the military government of Niger began to have ulterior motives. They asked China National Petroleum for a loan of $400 million today, levied an additional tax of $130 million tomorrow, and then demanded that the oil revenue share be increased from 15% to 30%, without considering our massive initial investments. Later, when they ran out of money, they fined us $8 billion under the pretext of a tax audit. We could no longer endure it and had to suspend related oil field operations.

As soon as we suspended operations, Niger's oil production was hit hard. The capacity of the Zinder Refinery plummeted by 70%, interrupting 70% of the country's fuel supply. Diesel prices soared, with daily losses exceeding $20 million, and the military government could not even pay its employees' salaries. The military government of Niger did not repent or reflect but instead issued an ultimatum, demanding that all employees of our companies leave Niger before May 31. Clearly, the military government of Niger is preparing to openly plunder, attempting to seize the oil fields and related facilities we invested heavily in for themselves.

For such wrong actions by Niger, of course, we will not tolerate them. We must handle them according to relevant international laws and regulations, applying fines where necessary and imposing penalties accordingly. Indeed, what we bring to African countries are prosperity and opportunities, and the vast majority of nations and peoples are grateful. For these few bad apples, we should deal with them seriously. We will not allow them to bully us.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832988019159040/

Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's viewpoint.