MANILA: 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.
“About 19,000 workers were demonstrating against China’s violation of Vietnam’s territorial waters,” Tran Van Nam, vice chairman of the Binh Duong People’s Committee, told local reporters in the province.
“Some workers turned angry, destroying companies’ gates and entering the compounds and asking other workers to join a strike.”
Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group said property was damaged by looters, but did not give details. There were no reports of injuries.
“Everyone is terrified and scared,” said Serena Liu, chairwoman of the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.
“Some people tried to drive out of Binh Duong, but looters had put up road blocks.”
Hong Kong-listed sports shoe maker Yue Yuen, which supplies footwear to Adidas, Nike and other international brands, said it had suspended production in Vietnam because of the protests.
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.
The spike in tensions over the oil- and gas-rich South China Sea comes just two weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama visited the region and expressed support for long-time allies Japan and the Philippines, both of which are locked in territorial disputes with China. Vietnam is also stepping up ties with the United States.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, an area rich in energy deposits and an important passageway traversed each year by $5 trillion worth of ship-borne goods.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the area- Reuters
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