Kyrgyzstan arrests Chinese CEO of gold mining firm

Kyrgyzstan said Tuesday it had arrested the Chinese CEO of a gold mining firm accused of causing "large-scale" environmental damage, amid growing public scrutiny over Beijing's influence in the Central Asian country.

China has poured hundreds of millions of dollars of investment into neighbouring Kyrgyzstan in recent years, financing huge infrastructure projects and expanding its mining activities in a bid to secure critical minerals.

China and Kyrgyzstan say the partnership has been beneficial to both sides, but some in the local population have complained the influx of Chinese workers and companies has driven up prices and pollution.

The CEO of Kemin Resource Group, who was arrested last Thursday, managed a mine accused of damaging thousands of square metres of land and providing false information to authorities, Kyrgyzstan's security service said in a statement.

"The activities of the mine ... caused particularly large-scale damage," it said.

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Local residents had complained that exploration work had contaminated the water supply, threatened tourism and risked hastening the melting of glaciers, Kyrgyz media reported earlier this year.

Beijing did not immediately comment.

The arrest comes less than two weeks after a brawl broke out between Chinese and Kyrgyz construction workers in the country's north, fuelling anti-Chinese sentiment on social media.

Rich in natural resources, Central Asia's five republics have courted interest from major powers including China, the European Union and the United States since becoming independent from the Soviet Union in 1991.

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