Commentary: French gov't needs to heed Chinese community's cry for security

In a highly unusual move, around 1,800people from the Chinese community took to the streets on Sunday in Paris, sending a strong signal to the French authorities that they need to keep them safe.

The protest in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers was prompted by the death of 49-year-old tailor Zhang Chaolin in a robbery.

Zhang's death highlights a security nightmare for the Chinese community in the neighborhood that has suffered an increasing number of violent robberies. The frequent crime against them is however still on the rise as what has been done by the authorities in response is far from enough.

The situation has led the people to take to the streets of Paris, in anger grown from an ethnic community that has enjoyed a long-time reputation for hard work, law abidance and remarkable contribution to the economic development of every host country around the globe.

The Chinese community of between 3,000 and 4,000 residents in Aubervilliers, which has a population of around 80,000, deserves better security service. It is the obligation of the governments to make them feel as safe as other groups of taxpayers.

The Sunday march also indicates a need for more measures to be taken to protect Chinese communities in France, who are particularly vulnerable to robbery and theft as they tend to carry a large sum of cash, and are also sometimes targeted by mistakes as Chinese tourists, many of whom are luxury shoppers thanks to China's economic achievements.

However, for the central and local governments, slogans chanted in the Sunday march by the Chinese community in Paris should not be regarded as only cries for liberty, equality and fraternity.

The security nightmare for the Chinese community also represents a security alert the French authorities cannot afford to ignore. It reveals that violent crimes remain at least as appalling as ever while the French authorities focus on fighting terrorism.

Insecurity has been blamed among the major factors for bringing down the number of foreign tourists to France, one of the world's biggest tourist destinations. A decline of 8.5 percent in overnight stays was recorded in the second quarter from a year earlier, with Paris worst-hit with a cut of 12.5 percent merely for hotels, official data showed. Endi