“If we all go back home, the economy of Shanglin will go backward at least 20 years,” said a Chinese miner who had been hiding inside a Chinese company in Obuasi, one of Ghana’s major gold-mining towns, for the past few weeks. “Who dares to be still operating the mine? We’ve all closed and been looking for places to hide.”

“The Ghanaian authorities hunted us down in Chinese restaurants and hotels,” said the miner, who would give only his last name, Li, out of fear for his safety. “Once they caught us, they took all our cash and cellphones. They were just like robbers, really violent.”

But he was not pleased with the treatment he received from the Chinese government, either: “Our phone calls to the Chinese Embassy in Ghana always went unanswered.”

Some of the world’s largest mining companies have invested in Ghana, but unauthorized small-scale mining has been a persistent issue for the country and the Chinese workers there.

Last week, Ghana’s minister for lands and natural resources warned that a crackdown on illegal miners was imminent, even as he was meeting with Chinese officials from Guangxi on the issue, according to The Ghanaian Chronicle, an Accra newspaper.

The arrests in Ghana are the latest reminder of continuing friction between China, which is investing heavily in a continent with plenty of natural resources, and Africans who routinely complain about Chinese disregard for local laws, customs and labor rights. Unions and workers have described unequal pay and brutal treatment, notably and recently in Chinese-run oil operations in Niger.

A 2009 report on Chinese investment practices on the continent, conducted by the African Labor Research Network, spoke of “labor relations and practices that are simply unacceptable.” It said “trade unions across the continent have expressed deep concerns about the way they and their members are treated by Chinese companies,” and referred to “the systematic violations of workers’ rights” by the Chinese.