Riot hits China's steel company

Executives at a Chinese steel company were hurt in violent riots earlier this month in Vietnam. A company spokesman told central news agency Xinhua from his home phone that a timetable for the resumption of work on the steel project in the Southeast Asian country was not being considered at this time. Using dect telephone , the president of the China Metallurgical Corporation stated that “ connection with the installation of a Chinese drilling rig in a disputed territory in Vietnam's opinion. We will be able to resume work in the indefinite future when the local situation is resolved. " A large crowd of Vietnamese workers ransacked the MCC plant and attacked Chinese workers as protests spiraled out of control after tensions over the South China Sea escalated. Many foreign companies in Vietnam, including those from South Korea, Japan and Singapore, have also experienced violence. MCC is a contractor for a steel complex owned by Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group. According to the project, the MCC plant was to become the largest steel facility in Southeast Asia and to meet the needs for steel products in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. A $ 23 billion investment is planned and the plant is expected to start operating in 2015. However, most of the 3,000 workers at the MCC plant were sent home after the incident, with only 30 employees remaining in Vietnam, a company spokesman said.