Ships bring more home to safety
Print Edition
HUNDREDS of Chinese workers left Vietnam yesterday on four ships chartered by the Chinese government in the aftermath of last week’s deadly unrest targeted at foreign companies.
The Chinese ships, capable of carrying a total of 4,000 people, arrived at the port of Vung Ang yesterday and left after picking up the workers. They were bound for the Xiuying Port of Haikou, capital of Hainan Province, and due to arrive sometime today.
Workers had been driven on buses to the ships and riot police were stationed on the dock to ensure their safety.
Vung Ang is part of a large, under-construction steel mill complex that was overrun by an anti-China mob last Wednesday and Thursday. Two Chinese workers were killed and more than 100 injured in the attack, which also left parts of the facility on fire. Around 3,000 Chinese workers are employed in the construction of the complex.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that in addition to the four vessels sent to Vung Ang, two more were on stand-by. Chinese nationals injured in the riot and some others had already been flown home.
“The Chinese government is highly concerned about the safety of Chinese citizens in Vietnam,” Hong told reporters yesterday.
Around 400 other foreign factories around the country were damaged or destroyed in mob violence, most in industrial parks close to southern Ho Chi Minh City.
Most of the evacuees are employees of Metallurgical Corporation of China, a contractor in the construction of the steel complex. The project, invested by Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group, was among the worst-hit.
Harassment in South China Sea
The protests, lootings and arson attacks came after Vietnamese ships and personnel repeatedly harassed the operations of a Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea.
China has condemned the violence and demanded Vietnam take resolute and effective measures to stop all violence, ensure the safety of all Chinese nationals and companies, punish all perpetrators and compensate affected Chinese companies and nationals.
The Chinese government has also dispatched a work group to Vietnam to discuss the matter with Vietnamese authorities, appraise the situation on the ground and facilitate the evacuation with Chinese diplomats in the southeast Asian country.
“At the request of the Chinese Embassy to Vietnam and Chinese contractors, Vietnam’s relevant organizations have created favorable and kind conditions for China to bring their workers home,” Truong Minh Tuan, Vietnam’s deputy information and communications minister, said yesterday.
Tuan called the attack on the iron and steel complex “pitiful” and said local authorities and relevant agencies had quickly implemented measures to support and help individuals and organizations who suffered damage to health and property. At the same time, security and order were strengthened through various measures, Tuan said.
Extremists who seriously violated laws were arrested and prosecuted, he said, and “many solutions” had been carried out to help stabilize production at the steel complex and other projects in Vung Ang economic zone.
“The situation is back to normal now,” he told reporters.
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