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| Anti-Foreigner Violence Turns Deadly and Spreads in Vietnam | Anti-Foreigner Violence Turns Deadly and Spreads in Vietnam |
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| HA TINH PROVINCE, Vietnam — Violence against foreign-owned factories has spread across Vietnam and taken a deadly turn, with officials saying on Thursday that at least one Chinese worker had been killed and scores more injured when hundreds of protesting Vietnamese rampaged through a steel plant. | HA TINH PROVINCE, Vietnam — Violence against foreign-owned factories has spread across Vietnam and taken a deadly turn, with officials saying on Thursday that at least one Chinese worker had been killed and scores more injured when hundreds of protesting Vietnamese rampaged through a steel plant. |
| The explosion of violence, which started in the industrial suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, was set off initially by anger at China, which has been pressing territorial claims in the South China Sea. But it has shown signs of broadening into a more general outpouring of frustration. News agencies quoted government officials as saying that the unrest had spread to 22 of Vietnam’s 63 provinces, and carried unconfirmed reports of additional deaths. | The explosion of violence, which started in the industrial suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, was set off initially by anger at China, which has been pressing territorial claims in the South China Sea. But it has shown signs of broadening into a more general outpouring of frustration. News agencies quoted government officials as saying that the unrest had spread to 22 of Vietnam’s 63 provinces, and carried unconfirmed reports of additional deaths. |
| In Ha Tinh Province in north central Vietnam, hundreds of protesting workers stormed through the Formosa Plastics Group’s steel plant on Wednesday afternoon, attacking Chinese citizens who were working there, the company said on Thursday. One employee was killed and 90 others were injured in the violence, according to the company. | In Ha Tinh Province in north central Vietnam, hundreds of protesting workers stormed through the Formosa Plastics Group’s steel plant on Wednesday afternoon, attacking Chinese citizens who were working there, the company said on Thursday. One employee was killed and 90 others were injured in the violence, according to the company. |
| The protesters smashed and looted equipment at the plant and set it on fire, the company said. Managers on the scene called the local authorities, who sent vehicles to evacuate Chinese workers from the plant. The head of the Ha Tinh provincial government went to the factory around 10 p.m. and met with security officials to try to restore order, Formosa Plastics said, but the rioting continued until early Thursday. | The protesters smashed and looted equipment at the plant and set it on fire, the company said. Managers on the scene called the local authorities, who sent vehicles to evacuate Chinese workers from the plant. The head of the Ha Tinh provincial government went to the factory around 10 p.m. and met with security officials to try to restore order, Formosa Plastics said, but the rioting continued until early Thursday. |
| Vietnam has seen an influx of international investment in recent years, much of it in manufacturing industries that depend on low-wage labor. The influx has contributed to more than two decades of uneven, but at times rapid, economic growth in Vietnam, and an influx of Chinese workers that has been the source of tensions. | Vietnam has seen an influx of international investment in recent years, much of it in manufacturing industries that depend on low-wage labor. The influx has contributed to more than two decades of uneven, but at times rapid, economic growth in Vietnam, and an influx of Chinese workers that has been the source of tensions. |
| Though the original spark for protests appeared to be China’s deployment of an oil drilling rig and a flotilla of coast guard vessels in disputed waters off the Vietnamese coast, workers and companies from South Korea and Taiwan have also become targets. China Airlines, based in Taiwan, sent two extra aircraft to Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday to handle a surge of Taiwanese people trying to leave Vietnam after its two regularly scheduled flights sold out. There were also reports that hundreds of mainland Chinese were fleeing across the Cambodian border to Phnom Penh, about 130 miles from Ho Chi Minh City. | Though the original spark for protests appeared to be China’s deployment of an oil drilling rig and a flotilla of coast guard vessels in disputed waters off the Vietnamese coast, workers and companies from South Korea and Taiwan have also become targets. China Airlines, based in Taiwan, sent two extra aircraft to Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday to handle a surge of Taiwanese people trying to leave Vietnam after its two regularly scheduled flights sold out. There were also reports that hundreds of mainland Chinese were fleeing across the Cambodian border to Phnom Penh, about 130 miles from Ho Chi Minh City. |
| Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs, David Lin, told legislators on Thursday that Taiwan was taking steps to ensure that all its citizens who wanted to leave Vietnam could do so, and that Taiwan would seek compensation for damage to its business interests in Vietnam. Government officials in China and Hong Kong issued travel warnings for their citizens in Vietnam, Reuters reported. | Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs, David Lin, told legislators on Thursday that Taiwan was taking steps to ensure that all its citizens who wanted to leave Vietnam could do so, and that Taiwan would seek compensation for damage to its business interests in Vietnam. Government officials in China and Hong Kong issued travel warnings for their citizens in Vietnam, Reuters reported. |
| As the violence spread to other parts of Vietnam, factory managers in Binh Duong Province, an industrial area north of Ho Chi Minh City where the riots began, surveyed the damage on Thursday and complained that the police response had been listless or nonexistent. | As the violence spread to other parts of Vietnam, factory managers in Binh Duong Province, an industrial area north of Ho Chi Minh City where the riots began, surveyed the damage on Thursday and complained that the police response had been listless or nonexistent. |
| “I called the police, called and called,” said Pang Chi Wa, who works as a manager at HWA Jong Group, a garment maker based in Taiwan with a factory in Binh Duong. Mr. Pang said that the crowds of protesters had circled the factory in the surrounding streets several times before mounting their attack, and that during that time, his pleas for police help went unanswered. | “I called the police, called and called,” said Pang Chi Wa, who works as a manager at HWA Jong Group, a garment maker based in Taiwan with a factory in Binh Duong. Mr. Pang said that the crowds of protesters had circled the factory in the surrounding streets several times before mounting their attack, and that during that time, his pleas for police help went unanswered. |
| “Maybe it was deliberate, maybe it was too much for them to deal with, but now they seem to regret it,” he said of the police. | “Maybe it was deliberate, maybe it was too much for them to deal with, but now they seem to regret it,” he said of the police. |
| Mr. Pang said that he and other employees first tried to reason with the protesters, and then hid from them as the crowd pushed in to the factory and began looting. In the aftermath on Thursday, the front office of his factory was a mess of shattered glass, toppled potted plants and files strewn on the floor. | Mr. Pang said that he and other employees first tried to reason with the protesters, and then hid from them as the crowd pushed in to the factory and began looting. In the aftermath on Thursday, the front office of his factory was a mess of shattered glass, toppled potted plants and files strewn on the floor. |
| He and other people who witnessed the mayhem said that the crowds had often shouted patriotic slogans and denounced China, but that the political message gave way to looting and indiscriminate attacks on factories. | He and other people who witnessed the mayhem said that the crowds had often shouted patriotic slogans and denounced China, but that the political message gave way to looting and indiscriminate attacks on factories. |
| “I don’t even know where this came from,” said Mr. Pang, who said he had been working in Vietnam for a decade. “We’ve never seen this here before. It seemed to start as something against China, but then that became an excuse.” | “I don’t even know where this came from,” said Mr. Pang, who said he had been working in Vietnam for a decade. “We’ve never seen this here before. It seemed to start as something against China, but then that became an excuse.” |
| Though Vietnam is heavily dependent on China for trade and investment, officials have been willing to whip up anti-Chinese feeling through the state-controlled media when it serves the government’s purpose. | Though Vietnam is heavily dependent on China for trade and investment, officials have been willing to whip up anti-Chinese feeling through the state-controlled media when it serves the government’s purpose. |
| Peng Zhi-ming, a manager at another Taiwan-owned factory in the Binh Duong industrial suburbs, said he had thought he recognized several former employees in the crowd that invaded his factory, which employs about 70 workers. The crowd grew as people appeared to sense they could act with impunity, Mr. Peng said. | Peng Zhi-ming, a manager at another Taiwan-owned factory in the Binh Duong industrial suburbs, said he had thought he recognized several former employees in the crowd that invaded his factory, which employs about 70 workers. The crowd grew as people appeared to sense they could act with impunity, Mr. Peng said. |
| “They came around again and again,” he said. “We called the police, but nobody came. I don’t know why they didn’t come, but the fact is they didn’t.” He said the looting of his offices ended only when the crowd moved on to fresh targets. | “They came around again and again,” he said. “We called the police, but nobody came. I don’t know why they didn’t come, but the fact is they didn’t.” He said the looting of his offices ended only when the crowd moved on to fresh targets. |
| A Taiwanese factory owner who requested anonymity because he was afraid of reprisals said he and other investors had little choice but to repair and rebuild their damaged factories. | A Taiwanese factory owner who requested anonymity because he was afraid of reprisals said he and other investors had little choice but to repair and rebuild their damaged factories. |
| “Investors will have to think more about Vietnam, but we’re here already, and can’t back out,” he said. “We don’t want anything to do with politics, so why did they pick on us?” He said that in many cases looters had ransacked offices but left production equipment relatively unscathed. | “Investors will have to think more about Vietnam, but we’re here already, and can’t back out,” he said. “We don’t want anything to do with politics, so why did they pick on us?” He said that in many cases looters had ransacked offices but left production equipment relatively unscathed. |
| A Chinese woman who works in the timber industry and uses the name M___zi on the Weibo social media site posted photos of her smashed office on Thursday morning. | |
| “All the computers in the office were taken,” the woman wrote. “The ground is filled with files and fragments, the doors and windows of the dormitories were all smashed. Some parts of the plant that were set on fire have been pretty much burned.” She called the mob “frenzied demons.” | “All the computers in the office were taken,” the woman wrote. “The ground is filled with files and fragments, the doors and windows of the dormitories were all smashed. Some parts of the plant that were set on fire have been pretty much burned.” She called the mob “frenzied demons.” |
| Chinese workers who were recovering from injuries at the main provincial hospital in Ha Tinh said on Thursday that the violence there broke out Wednesday afternoon when crowds of Vietnamese men — numbering in the hundreds and sometimes the thousands — descended on construction sites and factories and attacked the workers there with steel bars and pipes, rocks, and sometimes knives. | Chinese workers who were recovering from injuries at the main provincial hospital in Ha Tinh said on Thursday that the violence there broke out Wednesday afternoon when crowds of Vietnamese men — numbering in the hundreds and sometimes the thousands — descended on construction sites and factories and attacked the workers there with steel bars and pipes, rocks, and sometimes knives. |
| Neither the recovering workers nor the medical staff at the hospital knew the overall toll of dead and injured from the violence. Wang Xiangzheng, a worker from Yunnan province in southwestern China, said he had counted about 160 injured Chinese workers at the hospital. He was largely uninjured himself, he said, but he saw the violence erupt at the building site where he and his son were working, and his son was badly injured, with two blows to the head from a metal rod. Other Chinese workers waiting for treatment had bruised faces and blackened eyes, mangled fingers and torsos that were blue from kicks and punches. | Neither the recovering workers nor the medical staff at the hospital knew the overall toll of dead and injured from the violence. Wang Xiangzheng, a worker from Yunnan province in southwestern China, said he had counted about 160 injured Chinese workers at the hospital. He was largely uninjured himself, he said, but he saw the violence erupt at the building site where he and his son were working, and his son was badly injured, with two blows to the head from a metal rod. Other Chinese workers waiting for treatment had bruised faces and blackened eyes, mangled fingers and torsos that were blue from kicks and punches. |
| “They just turned up and started attacking,” Mr. Wang said as he waited in the lobby while his son had medical tests. He said that that the several hundred Chinese workers who were on the building site tried to step aside when the Vietnamese men appeared, but were attacked anyway. | “They just turned up and started attacking,” Mr. Wang said as he waited in the lobby while his son had medical tests. He said that that the several hundred Chinese workers who were on the building site tried to step aside when the Vietnamese men appeared, but were attacked anyway. |
| “They didn’t say anything I could understand,” he said of the rioters. “They had rocks and steel bars and pipes, and broke through the gate and started hitting us, and then they burned down the housing.” | “They didn’t say anything I could understand,” he said of the rioters. “They had rocks and steel bars and pipes, and broke through the gate and started hitting us, and then they burned down the housing.” |
| Another Chinese worker, Rui Falan, 46, could speak only haltingly while he waited for X-rays of his crushed hands, which he said a group of Vietnamese men had stomped on when he was knocked to the ground. He said he was sent to work in Vietnam in November by the Chinese company that employs him. | Another Chinese worker, Rui Falan, 46, could speak only haltingly while he waited for X-rays of his crushed hands, which he said a group of Vietnamese men had stomped on when he was knocked to the ground. He said he was sent to work in Vietnam in November by the Chinese company that employs him. |
| “It wasn’t my choice,” he said. “I hope they’ll send me back home now. This was too scary.” | “It wasn’t my choice,” he said. “I hope they’ll send me back home now. This was too scary.” |
| Growing numbers of Chinese workers have come to Vietnam to find work, even though wages in the country are generally lower than in China. Some, like Mr. Wang, 40, said they had come in on tourist visas and then sought jobs with Chinese employers, often construction companies. | Growing numbers of Chinese workers have come to Vietnam to find work, even though wages in the country are generally lower than in China. Some, like Mr. Wang, 40, said they had come in on tourist visas and then sought jobs with Chinese employers, often construction companies. |
| “If there’s work, we stay; if there’s none, we move on,” Mr. Wang said. “But now it’s not safe here. I might go back.” | “If there’s work, we stay; if there’s none, we move on,” Mr. Wang said. “But now it’s not safe here. I might go back.” |