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Over 3000 Chinese Evacuated (By Boat & Plane) As Vietnam's Anti-China Riots Escalate; Taiwan Also On "High Alert"
18
May, 2014
China
began evacuating hundreds of its nationals from Vietnam (via at least
2 planes and 5 ships) as the anti-China protests have become
increasingly deadly following Beijing's attempt to deploy an oil
drill in Vietnamese dispuited waters (detailed here, here, here,
and here)...
- *CHINA SENDING 5 SHIPS TO VIETNAM TO EVACUATE CHINESE: XINHUA
- *HUNDREDS OF VIETNAMESE SECURITY IN CENTRAL HO CHI MINH CITY
- *VIETNAM PRIME MINISTER ISSUES DIRECTIVE TO PREVENT PROTESTS
- *VIETNAM GOVT TAKES ACTION TO PREVENT RIOTS: BINH
Hundreds
of police and security forces are in central Ho Chi Minh city and the
Chinese consulate is under heavy guard. Tensions across the ASEAN
region are growung as Taiwan is on "high alert" but
the bloc’s
inability to craft a united response to Chinese aggression signals a
further decline in its regional clout.
The
Vietnamese government has called for an end to the protests...
Vietnam's prime minister appealed for calm last night ahead of expected anti-China demonstrations in Ho Chi Minh City today.
A text message from Nguyen Tan Dung was sent to every cellphone in the country urging citizens not to "commit violations of the law" in defence of the "sovereignty of the sacred fatherland".
His office also ordered the police and local leaders to halt further illegal demonstrations. His plea came after China's deployment of an oil rig in the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea unleashed a wave of deadly protests.
But
the Chinese are clearly not leaving anything to chance... (Via PTI)
More than 3,000 Chinese nationals have been evacuated so far from Vietnam after the recent deadly violence, China's Foreign Ministry said today.
They returned to China with the assistance of Chinese Embassy to Vietnam, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.
China says two of its nationals were killed in the violence and more than 100 others injured while the official death toll was put at 21.
Via
2 Planes...
and
5 ships...
China is to send five ships to Vietnam today to evacuate Chinese nationals after protests against Chinese in the country last week, the official Xinhua News Agency reports in a one-paragraph report, citing the Ministry of Transport
The
official death toll is unclear...
- *VIETNAM CONFIRMS 2 CHINESES DIE IN RIOT, ABOUT 140 INJURED
The
tension is spreading across the ASEAN region...
*TAIWAN
ON HIGH ALERT OVER PROTESTS IN VIETNAM TODAY
And
the lackluster response from ASEAN is extremely serious... (via The
Diplomat)
As Vietnamese and Chinese ships jostled and fired water cannons at each other – the best ASEAN could do was issue another summit statement urging restraint and expressing “serious concern,” timidly avoiding any mention of China.
Furious protesters have trashed 15 Chinese factories in Vietnam, forcing Chinese investors and tourists to flee across the border and into the safety of Cambodia. Golfers in Danang reported fighter jets overhead, heading out to sea.
Observers said it was the first time Vietnam had allowed the state-run press to freely cover the protests, which the government also allowed to proceed. However, Singapore-based Channel News Asia was taken off the air after flagging a report on the protests.
At least 200 people have been arrested and the Vietnamese government has pledged to crack down on hooliganism.
“It is clear that China’s new assertiveness is triggering anxieties among its neighbors,” said Ernest Bower, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
ASEAN has long been ridiculed as a toothless tiger and its behavior amid the current standoff between China and Vietnam – perhaps the greatest challenge to face the group – only reinforces the claims.
If ASEAN genuinely wants to be taken seriously, now might be an appropriate time for a united public front on China’s territorial ambitions in the seas that divide the bloc’s 10 nations. If it is unable to do that, then individual member states face the daunting task of dealing with Beijing on their own, further relegating ASEAN to the political sidelines and undermining its diplomatic credentials.
The bloc’s inability to craft a united response to Chinese aggression signals a further decline in its regional clout.
Firm grip kept on anti-China protests in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
Fresh
protests held in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi as Beijing urges
cancellation of trips to Vietnam and suspends bilateral exchanges
SCMP,
26
January, 2013
Mainlanders
were urged yesterday to put on hold plans to visit Vietnam as Hanoi
clamped down on anti-China protests.
The
foreign ministry in Beijing also announced it would suspend some
bilateral exchanges after violence last week that left at least two
Chinese dead and more than 100 injured.
"China
will consider taking further measures according to how the situation
develops," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.
In
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, large numbers of police with batons
cordoned off demonstrators angered by China's establishment of an oil
rig in disputed waters near the Paracel Islands in the South China
Sea.
In Hanoi, authorities closed off streets and a park close to the Chinese embassy. Police were posted outside dissidents' houses, preventing them from leaving, said protestors
."I want to send a message that if we don't stop China today, tomorrow it will be too late," said demonstrator Dao Minh Chu.
In Hanoi, authorities closed off streets and a park close to the Chinese embassy. Police were posted outside dissidents' houses, preventing them from leaving, said protestors
."I want to send a message that if we don't stop China today, tomorrow it will be too late," said demonstrator Dao Minh Chu.
Those
protests were covered enthusiastically by state media - a sign that
they had been tacitly approved by the government.
But
yesterday, the authorities maintained a tight grip.
In
Ho Chi Minh City, a group of mostly middle-aged men clapped and
shouted "Vietnam" as they attempted to march to the
fortified Chinese consulate.
Police
stopped them after minor clashes broke out. One witness said some
protesters had tried to display banners critical of the Vietnamese
government and were detained.
Police
and plainclothes officers prevented reporters from talking to
protesters. Even after the initial demonstration had been dispersed,
a police presence was maintained throughout Ho Chi Minh City and vans
with loudspeakers called for calm.
A
political columnist in Ho Chi Minh City said the demonstrators had
miscalculated the government's reaction.
"They
could not demonstrate as they had planned," he said.
Protests
on Tuesday were followed by days of violence across 22 of Vietnam's
63 provinces, with Chinese factories and nationals targeted.
Factories owned by other foreign companies were also attacked.
But
the authorities seemed eager to prevent a repeat of the riots
yesterday, amid rumours of protests on social media.
Police
units were deployed at the gates of industrial parks around Ho Chi
Minh City on Saturday night, said a Taiwanese businessman who had
been coordinating security efforts with other managers. "The
situation is very quiet now," he added.
But
despite the heightened security, Beijing started mass evacuations on
Saturday and these continued yesterday.
See also -
16
Chinese critically injured in protests flown home from Vietnam on
chartered medical flight, while transport ministry sends five ships
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