BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government is taking all measures to ensure the safety of the Chinese residents in the Solomon Islands suffering unrest, Chinese Foreign Ministry said here Friday night.

    The ministry said it is watching closely the situation in the Solomon Islands and will continue to take all measures to ensure the safety of its people there including compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

    During the recent unrest in the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara, dozens of residences and shops in the city's Chinatown were looted and set on fire. Hundreds of local Chinese residents were forced to flee their homes.

    Violence erupted in the South Pacific island chain on Tuesday reportedly after Snyder Rini was elected prime minister.

    The Foreign Ministry said it had received immediate orders from Chinese leaders to follow closely the development of the situation and take every measure to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens there soon after the incidents happened. The ministry said it had activated its emergency mechanism.

    So far, the Foreign Ministry has urged the government of the Solomon Islands to immediately stop the looting and arson directed at Chinese people and to guarantee their safety and protect their property.

    Since China and the Solomon Islands do not have diplomatic relations, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has conveyed its requests through other channels.

    The ministry has made urgent contact with the governments of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, asking them to provide assistance to Chinese citizens if required.

    Meanwhile, the ministry has also ordered the Chinese Embassy in Papua New Guinea to immediately dispatch diplomats to the Solomon Islands to contact local Chinese people.

    In addition, the ministry has asked the Red Cross and Red Crescent branches on the islands to provide local Chinese with living necessities.

    According to the Foreign Ministry, the Chinese Embassy in PapuaNew Guinea on Wednesday helped relocate some 500 Chinese people, including five compatriots from Hong Kong, to the police headquarters in the Solomon Islands.

    The Red Cross has provided them with food, water and clothing. Embassy personnel said a Solomon Islands official has pledged that the Chinese people taking refugee in the police headquarters will be protected.

    On Wednesday night, some Chinese citizens and emigrants left the police headquarters as the situation gradually calmed down with curfew in the capital city. But over 400 people chose to stay.

    According to Radio New Zealand, a tense calm has settled Thursday over the Solomon Islands after 180 Australian soldiers and police arrived in the capital Honiara to quell violent protests. Fifty-five police from New Zealand and 25 from Papua NewGuinea also arrived Later on Thursday to help maintain social order.

    On Thursday night ten Chinese citizens and emigrants with valid certificates left the Solomon Islands for New Zealand or Australia by military or commercial planes of the two countries. The five people who reached New Zealand had received three-month-long visas.

    Friday morning, Chinese councilors Gao Feng and Consulate Wang Gang of the Chinese Embassy in Papua New Guinea arrived in the Solomon Islands to assist Chinese people there.

    The Foreign Ministry said ten more Chinese left the Solomon Islands for New Zealand Friday night. Enditem