HARARE – The Chinese embassy in Harare has stepped in to resolve a raging row between Norton MP Temba Mliswa and a Chinese company which built a huge tile factory in the constituency.

Mliswa accuses the Chinese company Sunny Yi Feng Tiles of a “wanton disregard of local laws”, importing Chinese labour, engaging in illegal gold mining and abusing Zimbabwean workers. He also claims large scale sexual abuse of local women was happening at the basement of a building, and Norton health facilities had received women with “untreatable STIs contracted from the Chinese.”

The MP claimed he was detained against his will when he went to the Chinese factory last week.

In a statement on Sunday, the Chinese embassy said it had “coordinated the two sides to solve the problem through dialogue and consultation.”

“With the facilitation of the Chinese embassy, the dialogue between the two sides is still going on and we expect it to produce positive results. If the relevant issues cannot be resolved through consultation, the two sides may settle them rationally through legal channels,” the embassy said.

The embassy said while it protects the legitimate rights and interests of overseas Chinese enterprises and citizens, “the government always requires them to abide by the laws and regulations of the host countries and to respect local customs.”

“The Chinese embassy attaches importance to MP Mliswa’s criticisms and proposals concerning the tiles factory,” the embassy statement added.

Local traditional leader Chief Chivero recently filed a police report after claiming that he had been assaulted by a Chinese national at the factory, whom Mliswa has named as a “Mr Zhong.”

“It’s not all Chinese that are bad, but the majority seem to be going all out to ruin things for everyone. We’re fast losing patience with such barbaric behaviour,” Mliswa recently said on Twitter.