China hopes its firms’ rights would be protected in India

Beijing, March 29 (IANS) China on Wednesday said it expected that the rights of the Chinese companies as well as the employees would be protected in India a day after a staffer of Chinese mobile phone company Oppo allegedly tore India's flag.

Talking to reporters in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang said the Chinese government expects Chinese firms to follow local laws and respect local practices and customs.

Lu also said the Chinese company was in touch with the police.

He said the Chinese government hoped the issue would be resolved.

An FIR was lodged on Tuesday against a company official who allegedly tore the national flag and threw it into a dustbin.

Police registered a case for showing disrespect to the national flag, based on a complaint filed by the company employees against the Chinese national who is a production manager in the company.

The incident took place on Monday when the Chinese official allegedly tore off the national flag pasted on a wall of the company's Noida Sector 63 office and threw it into a dustbin.

The flag was put up on the wall on January 26, when the company celebrated Republic Day.

Grover said the employees of the company were already sore over their grievances not being addressed by the executives.

After the act involving the national flag, hundreds of people, along with the employees, protested outside the office.

The situation turned volatile and several police personnel were deployed at the office to control the crowd. The protesters demanded the arrest of the Chinese official.

They also raised issues related to the labour laws being violated by the company. The area was cleared after senior officers of the district administration intervened.

Senior officials, including District Magistrate N.P. Singh and Superintendent of Police (City) Dinesh Yadav as well as the Labour Commissioner held a meeting with the executives from Oppo.