Chinese ships arrive in Vietnam to pick up workers

[khongquan2]

Chinese ships arrive in Vietnam to pick up workers
Associated Press By CHRIS BRUMMITT - 9 hours ago

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Two Chinese passenger ships arrived at a Vietnamese port Monday to evacuate Chinese workers following deadly rioting last week, officials said, a dramatic maneuver from Beijing that intensifies pressure on Hanoi as the two countries jostle over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

The boats with a capacity to carry 1,000 passengers arrived at Vung Ang port early Monday morning but didn't immediately dock, said Thai Tran Linh, a government official in Ha Tinh. He said officials were still examining the paperwork of the ships, which left China's Hainan Island on Sunday.

Vung Ang port is part of a large, under-construction Taiwanese steel mill complex 350 kilometers (217 miles) south of Hanoi that was overrun by an anti-China mob last week. Two Chinese workers were killed and 140 injured in the attack, which also left parts of the facility on fire. Linh said around 3,000 Chinese workers were employed constructing the complex.

There has been no violence or protests since last Thursday, and Chinese people have been able to leave the country independently with no impediments since then.

The nationwide unrest, the worst to hit in Vietnam years, followed Beijing's deployment of a large oil rig in a patch of the South China Sea also claimed by Vietnam. Both nations have sent ships to the waters that are now locked in a tense standoff, raising fears of a possible conflict.

While noting that countries are obligated to help their citizens, Jonathan London, a Vietnam expert at Hong Kong's City University, said sending ships "broadcasts to the world a sense that China is a victim, creates an image of a destabilized Vietnam (and) sends ominous signals and veiled threats of punitive action."

"This maneuver might be perceived as indicating that (Chinese President Xi Jinping) is more interested in deepening rather than alleviating the prevailing sense of crisis which, if true, does not bode well for those hoping for de-escalation and newly-imaginative attempts at conflict resolution," he wrote in an email.

Around 400 other factories around the country were damaged or destroyed in mob violence, most in industrial parks close to southern Ho Chi Minh City. Many factories were not Chinese-run but Taiwanese or from elsewhere in Asia, apparently targeted mistakenly or by gangs intent on looting.

Vietnam's government, furious at China's positioning of the rig, initially allowed street protests, a rarity in the authoritarian country. But since the rioting they have cracked down, aware that the violence threatened the country's reputation as a safe and cheap destination for foreign manufacturers to establish.

[khongquan2]

China Sends Ships, Planes To Evacuate Its People From Vietnam After Deadly Riots Continue Over Chinese Oil Rig In South China Sea
By Sneha Shankar - on May 19 2014 2:34 AM

Security forces (front) scuffle with protesters chanting anti-China slogans,
during an anti-China protest in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh city,
in this photo taken on May 18, 2014. Reuters/Kyodo

Thousands of Chinese nationals are being evacuated from Vietnam amid rising violence stemming from a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Four ships, out of the total five designated to evacuate Chinese nationals from Vietnam, arrived at Vung Ang port Monday while one ship left for Vietnam Sunday, Xinhua reported, adding that two charter flights also carried 291 nationals back to China Sunday. More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from Vietnam since the violence began last Tuesday, targeting Chinese and Taiwanese companies, which were set ablaze and looted by rioters protesting against an oil rig dispatched to the South China Sea by Beijing.

"To stay or not to stay is now the question for those who already have factories in the Southeast Asian country after their factories were looted and burned down by protesters late last week," China Daily, a local state-run newspaper, said in an editorial Monday, according to Reuters.

Vietnamese authorities deployed more security outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi as nearly 135 workers have been injured in the riots and two Chinese have been killed so far. China’s foreign ministry has also suspended parts of bilateral exchange plans with Vietnam starting Sunday, and announced that it will take further measures if necessary, Xinhua reported.

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Factories owned by foreign investors, especially those belonging to Chinese and Taiwanese companies, were set ablaze and looted by rioters protesting against Beijing for sending an oil rig close to the Paracel Islands, which are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam. Protests in Vietnam grew to include nearly 20,000 workers who protested against China’s move in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Vietnam's government, which allowed peaceful protests early last week, has been criticized for not doing enough to contain the violence, which could potentially threaten the inflow of foreign investments into the Asian nation.

"It is not the protests per se that are the major concern of investors and their governments. It is the inability of the Vietnamese central government and its local counterparts to bring the protests under control," China Daily said in its report, according to Reuters, adding: "The severity of the violence and the heavy losses foreign firms have suffered raises the question of whether the Vietnamese government attaches enough importance to the interests of investors and the security of foreign factories."

On Saturday, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung enlisted the help of telecom workers to send text messages to rioters, urging them "not to participate in illegal protests that cause public disorder and harm social safety," CNN reported, while 318 suspects were arrested in Dong Nai province, in the northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, for inciting violence.

Taiwan's government began the evacuation of thousands of its citizens from Vietnam Thursday. The rioting reportedly wounded two Taiwanese nationals and caused huge losses to hundreds of Taiwanese companies, according to a report from IANS.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have called China’s move of introducing an oil rig in a disputed region of the South China Sea provocative, and have asked for a dialogue to resolve the issue.

“China’s decision to introduce an oil rig accompanied by numerous government vessels in waters that are disputed with Vietnam is provocative and raises tensions, absolutely, and that this is a unilateral action that appears to be part of a broader pattern, quite frankly, of Chinese behavior to advance its claims over disputed areas in a manner that really undermines peace and stability in the region,” Marie Harf, deputy spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said, in a briefing Thursday.