Factories burn in anti-China riots
Print Edition
MOBS burned and looted scores of foreign-owned factories in Vietnam following a protest by workers against China’s recent placement of an oil rig in the South China Sea, officials said yesterday.
The rioting followed protests by up to 20,000 workers at industrial parks near Ho Chi Minh City in Bing Duong province.
Smaller groups of men attacked factories at the parks which house factories run by businessmen from China’s mainland, Taiwan and South Korea, the provincial government said in a statement.
Yesterday morning, groups of men on motorcycles remained on the streets and factories in the area were closed. Riot police were stationed around the area but men were still seen carrying looted goods, one security guard said.
The government said the protests were initially peaceful but were hijacked by “extremists” who incited people to break into the factories. It said at least 15 were set alight and hundreds more vandalized or looted.
Police said 440 people had been detained over the violence.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that China was seriously concerned about the violence and had summoned Vietnam’s ambassador to protest.
China “demanded the Vietnamese side make efforts to adopt effective measures to resolutely support eliminating illegal criminal acts and protect the safety of Chinese citizens and institutions,” Hua said.
The Chinese embassy in Hanoi issued warnings to Chinese citizens, saying on its website that it saw no end to attacks by anti-China forces and urged Chinese to take safety precautions and avoid unnecessary travel.
Tran Van Nam, vice chairman of the Bing Duong government, said the riots caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and thousands of workers would have lost their jobs.
He said factories that hadn’t already shut down had been asked to do so temporarily for the sake of public order. He said the “situation was now under control.”
Taiwan-owned athletic shoe manufacturer Yue Yuen, which makes shoes for Nike, adidas and Reebok, said it had closed its three complexes close to Ho Chi Minh City as a precaution.
A spokesman for global exporter Li & Fung, which supplies retailers like Kohl’s Corp and Wal-Mart Stores Inc with clothing, toys and other products, said some of its suppliers in Vietnam had halted production.
FY Hong, president of Taiwan’s Formosa Industries Corp, one of the companies attacked, said about 300 rioters looted televisions, computers and workers’ belongings.
“Everyone is terrified,” said Serena Liu, chairwoman of the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam. “Some people tried to drive out of Binh Duong, but looters had put up roadblocks.”
China is Vietnam’s biggest trading partner, exporting billions of dollars of materials each year for factories producing goods including clothes, shoes and smartphones.
Vietnam reacted angrily after China towed a deep-sea oil rig on May 1 close to the Xisha Islands. It sent vessels to try to disrupt drilling, and some boats clashed with Chinese ships sent to protect the rig.
Over the weekend, the Vietnamese government gave rare permission for street protests against China.
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