Riot at the Taiwan Iron and Steel Works in Vietnam

Anti-Chinese protests in Vietnam escalated into an attack on workers at a local Taiwanese steel mill in the central province. As a result, one person was killed and 128 people were injured. The riots were preceded by peaceful demonstrations in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi against the installation of a Chinese oil rig.

Vietnamese personnel at the Vung Ang plant in Ha Tinh province ransacked the plant and clashed with Taiwanese workers. The attack and damage to a plant in the southern province came amid anger over a Chinese oil rig located in disputed waters off the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by both Vietnam and China. Vietnam and China fought a border war in 1979 and secured regulation in 1991.

“People who were injured in the Wung Ang riot were hospitalized, including some Chinese,” said Chang Tai Song, deputy head of the health department in Hatin. 128 people were admitted to two hospitals in the area.

In addition, the authorities are restoring order in the southern province of Binh Duong, where protests have erupted in the factory parks of a foreign company. The Public Security Ministry has increased its forces in the area and the situation has stabilized, the government said on its website. Police detained nearly 500 people for questioning over property damage in Binh Duong.

China is taking steps to protect its citizens in Vietnam, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said in Beijing yesterday.