Everything You Need To Know About The Anti-China Protests In Vietnam

Vietnam deployed security forces and quelled renewed protests against China on Sunday amid escalating tensions between the two nations after a territorial dispute sparked anti-Chinese rioting across the southeast Asian country.

China deployed an oil rig to a disputed patch of the South China Sea on May 1, triggering fury in Vietnam. Hanoi sent ships to confront the rig in a tense standoff with Chinese vessels. The breakdown in ties between the two countries is the most serious since 1979, when they fought a brief but bloody border war.

ap.org

China is a vital economic trade partner for Vietnam, and business links have grown in recent years. While they share a political ideology and a commitment to authoritarianism, the two countries also have a long history of bad blood. Many Vietnamese harbor deep resentment over what they see as China's bullying and economic exploitation of Beijing's far smaller neighbor.

bbc.com

They have often sparred over overlapping claims in the South China Sea, which is believed to have significant oil and gas deposits. China has been much more assertive in pressing its territorial claims in recent years, often bringing into dispute with Vietnam and the Philippines. Spats have broken out over fishing rights and oil exploration missions in recent years, but the placement of the rig 220 kilometers (136 miles) off the coast of Vietnam was considered especially provocative.

ap.org

Protests of hundreds in Vietnam's cities were allowed to a week ago, a rare move in a state that usually suppresses them. Doing so was risky for authorities: dissident groups joined in the protests, and public anger was such that violence was a possibility.

ft.com

Vietnam's government doesn't allow basic political freedoms and routinely arrested free speech activists and others challenging one-party rule. Anti-China protests are one of the few opportunities for public gatherings in Vietnam and also attract dissident groups, who often claim Hanoi is too soft on Beijing.

bbc.com

By Tuesday and Wednesday, the protests had morphed into riots targeting factories believed to be owned by Chinese companies. Many of those hit were Taiwanese. The violence caused concern among foreign investors who have turned Vietnam into a manufacturing hub in recent years.

ap.org

Two Chinese nationals were killed and more than 100 wounded, and more than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, which authorities blamed on "extremists".

theguardian.com

On May 12, one of the Taiwanese invested factory in Binh Duong, about a hundred labor rose for protest marching, the next day morning, factory labor all on strike, also joined by other people around.

bbc.com

On May 13, the protest marching escalated to violence riot, Many industrial park and factories with Chinese characters in Binh Duong were attacked and forced to shut down in the first wave of attack, and furthermore, part of Singaporean, Malaysian, Japanese, and Korean invested factories were attacked as well.

On May 14, several Taiwanese factories were burnt down and on going product and material were robbed by riotous, production equipment damage permanently. A Taiwanese invested bicycle factory was burnt and found one died in the burnt factory.

bbc.com

Two Chinese passenger ships were moored off a central Vietnamese port on Monday preparing to evacuate Chinese workers following deadly rioting last week, officials said.

Among those evacuated were 16 critically injured Chinese as well as staff from the China 19th Metallurgical Corp. who were building an iron and steel complex in Vietnam's Ha Tinh Province.

The boats with a capacity to carry 1,000 passengers each arrived at Vung Ang early Monday morning, said a port official who wasn't authorized to speak to the media. Thai Tran Linh, a government official in Ha Tinh, said the two boats were moored just off the port and were finalizing paperwork to dock.

The demonstration quickly developed into violence, where factories were robbed, smashed or burnt. In addition to Mainland Chinese companies, some demonstrators mistakenly targeting Taiwanese, Japanese and Singaporean businesses whom the owner are ethnically Chinese-looking (Singaporean, Taiwanese) and those which uses Kanji (Japanese) publicly.

"The severe violence targeting foreign companies in Vietnam since 13 May has caused casualties and property losses for Chinese nationals," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Sunday. "This sabotaged the atmosphere and conditions for bilateral communication and co-operation."

bbc.com

China has taken an increasingly assertive stance on its claims in the South China Sea in recent years, causing ties with regional neighbours to deteriorate. In particular, relations with Vietnam and the Philippines - which is taking Beijing to a UN court - have been badly hit. The move to deploy the drilling rig has been has been denounced by the US as provocative.

The Vietnamese economic and cultural representative office in Taiwan issued a statement Sunday pledging compensation for damages and suggested that one option would be to reduce or waive property or business taxes. Affected companies could receive priority loans or have outstanding debts forgiven, it said.

"The Vietnamese government will do the best we can to help companies resume normal production as soon as possible," the statement said.

theguardian.com

"The concern about Chinese nationals is quite localized," said Ben Reichel, executive director of Australian-listed Donaco International (DNA) Ltd., when asked about evacuations of Chinese from Vietnam. Donaco operates a hotel and casino in the Vietnamese town of Lao Cai, on the border with China, and yesterday announced a soft opening for an expansion. Almost all of the casino’s clients are Chinese, according to Reichel.

“Chinese players are coming across the border quite freely,” he said by phone from Hong Kong. “We had a soft opening yesterday and it was very well attended.”