CTV Danlambao - At least 23 people were killed and dozens of others seriously injured after the anti-China riots happened in succession in two provinces of Ha Tinh and Binh Duong.
In the Vietnam-China border areas, China's military has raised its alert to level 3 for combat readiness. In the East Sea, Chinese warships carrying missiles are protecting the HD-981 drilling rig located in the exclusive economic zone of Vietnam.
On May 14, the Taiwanese government ordered an emergency evacuation of Taiwanese from Vietnam after the riots which caused heavy damages to many Taiwan-backed companies. Hundreds of Chinese people have hastily left Vietnam for Cambodia.
In the morning of May 15, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh said “the situation is extremely serious,” the labor strikes against China have happened in 22 cities across the country.
At a press conference today, May 15, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said Vietnam has dispatched Deputy Minister Ho Xuan Son to Beijing to express “goodwill” towards China.
Police and troops have been mobilized to hot areas with large Chinese population to prevent possible outbreak of conflict waiting to happen at any time.
On the same day, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung ordered the Ministry of Public Security to implement emergency measures to protect foreign companies and workers. Dung said the situation of the conflicts is “serious.”
Earlier, Taiwanese media reported 2 Chinese were killed and 2 Taiwanese seriously wounded from the violence in Binh Duong on May 13.
According to Reuters, a local doctor said at least 5 Vietnamese workers and 16 Chinese workers were killed during a bloody conflict at a steel plant owned by Formosa Plastics Group in Vung Ang, Ha Tinh.
"Hundreds of people had been taken to the hospital last night, among them are many Chinese. More people are still being taken to the hospital this morning," a doctor at Ha Tinh General Hospital told Reuters.
Thus, in just two days, the riots in two provinces of Binh Duong and Ha Tinh have killed 23 Vietnamese and Chinese.
However, a report from Ha Tinh’s Propaganda Committee says the “confrontation at Vung Ang Economic Zone has left 149 people with minor bruises and caused 1 death.”
Ha Tinh police also announced that it has arrested 76 people after the conflict. Binh Duong province police chief announced the arrest of more than 800 people after the attacks and lootings. More than 100 people deemed to have “aggressive behavior” were arrested in Dong Nai province.
Independent sources sent to Danlambao said that on May 13, police came to factories to request workers to call of work and participate in an anti-China protest while the workers were working. After that, many young men carrying weapons immediately rushed into company offices to threaten the staffs and demand production activities to be suspended so workers could participate in the protest. Notably, members of that strange group used radio equipment for communication.
In Ha Tinh, the riot seriously broke down when dozens of strangers came over to block the gate of a construction site then attacked a vehicle carrying Chinese workers. Reportedly, those strangers are not workers or local residents.
Security forces and riot police of Ha Tinh and Binh Duong have been criticized for their slow response and ineffectiveness in protecting victims of the attacks.
On the morning of May 15, thousands of HongFu workers in Thanh Hoa were suddenly poisoned with water poisoning before taking part in an anti-China protest. Previously, the state-run labor union of Thanh Hoa dispatched officials to this company to instruct workers not to go on strike "to avoid incitement from hostile forces and reactionaries.”
Serious incidents have continually happened, showing signs that the Communist regime in Vietnam has been unable to control the situation. A broad political crisis is waiting to happen in a near future.
