Vietnam mobs set fire to foreign factories in anti-China protest

Reuters ^ | May 14, 2014 3:16am EDT | HO BINH MINH AND MANUEL MOGATO

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Hanoi/Manila Reuters: Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country after protests against Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, officials said on Wednesday.

The brunt appears to have been borne by Taiwanese companies in the zones in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces as rioters mistook the firms to be Chinese-owned. Vietnamese officials gave few details, but said gates to factories were smashed and windows were broken. Police said they were investigating.

A Singapore foreign ministry spokesman said the premises of a number of foreign companies were broken into and set on fire in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) I and II in Binh Duong. The spokesman said the Singapore government had asked Vietnam to immediately restore law and order, but gave no other details.

snip China has urged Vietnam to "calm down" and respect China's sovereignty, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in comments to Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa in a telephone call, Beijing's foreign ministry reported on its website.

Anti-China sentiment also surged in Manila, as the Philippine government accused Beijing of reclaiming land on a reef in disputed islands in another part of sea, apparently to build an airstrip. The action came only a day after Washington described Beijing's actions in the region as "provocative".

"If these reports are true, this would represent a significant step by the Chinese, potentially allowing them to extend their airborne reach," said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies.

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"On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said during a phone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China's introduction of the oil rig and numerous government vessels into the area disputed with Vietnam was "provocative", a State Department spokeswoman said.

China said Kerry said no such thing in the phone call.

It said there had indeed been provocative action taken in the area but that it was not the guilty party, with the foreign ministry blaming the United States for encouraging such behavior. The ministry said Wang had urged Kerry to "act and speak cautiously"."

trouble brewing

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Looking Bad—Wait til Japan/Vietnam and the Philippines unite in the opposition of Chinese advances—I fear if fighting starts we will get pulled into it as well. Russia will stand back and watch only coming in if China faces a defeat.

[Freeport]

If Japan, Philippines or Taiwanese get sucked into a shoot war, we are treaty bound to support them.

Since Japan is in the process of reinterpreting their constitutional mandate concerning defense to not only include direct attack but to include collective attack, then we could be coming to the aid of Vietnam as well, if the Vietnamese ask Japanese for help.

In any event, it would get ugly fast, because you can bet that if the North Koreans feel we are distracted enough, they will attack South Korea.

[Steven Scharf]

Those foreign factories in Veitnam are employing Veitnamese people so they are putting their own countrymen out of thier jobs.

Similar to the riots of the 60s where the folks destroyed thier own neighborhoods.