China has requested that Russian authorities "seriously investigate" the conflict between Russian police and Chinese workers occurring Wednesday night and take measures to prevent such things from happening in the future, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Saturday in a press release.

Spokesman Kong Quan said the conflict occurred when Irkutsk police conducted inspections on the Chinese workers. About 200 Chinese workers were involved in the incident. "Dozens were injured, and some were hospitalized," he said.

"The issue has aroused great concern from the Chinese government," Kong said.

The Chinese consulate general in Khabarovsk made immediate representations to Russia upon hearing of the incident. On Friday night, Huang Ping, deputy director of the Department of Consular Affairs with the Foreign Ministry, urgently summoned the Russian Embassy officials in China.

Kong said China has asked Russia to conduct "serious investigation" into the issue, punish the troublemakers and try its best to treat the injured Chinese.

"China also urged Russia to take effective measures to prevent such things from happening again," he said.

The Chinese consulate general in Khabarovsk and local departments will soon sent deputies to Irkutsk to handle the remaining problems, sources with the Foreign Ministry said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2005)