A security guard stands near a damaged shoe factory in Vietnam's Binh Duong province. A security guard stands near a damaged shoe factory in Vietnam's Binh Duong province. Photo: Reuters
Beijing: Escalating violence in Vietnam fuelled by anti-Chinese sentiment has turned deadly with reports of as many as 20 people being killed during rioting which broke out after attacks targeting Chinese nationals and foreign-owned factories.
A doctor at a hospital in central Vietnam’s Ha Tinh province said five Vietnamese workers and 16 other people described as Chinese were killed in riots on Wednesday night, which stemmed from anger at China’s increasingly assertive stance in a territorial dispute with Vietnam in the  resource-rich South China Sea.
“There were about a hundred people sent to the hospital last night. Many were Chinese. More are being sent to the hospital this morning,” the doctor at Ha Tinh General Hospital told Reuters. The death toll had yet to be confirmed by Chinese or Vietnamese authorities on Thursday afternoon.
Smoke rises from the Maxim company building in Binh Duong province on Wednesday. Smoke rises from the Maxim company building in Binh Duong province on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
In Binh Duong province, near Ho Chi Minh City in the country’s south, at least one Chinese worker was killed and more than 90 injured after thousands of Vietnamese workers set fire to dozens of factories.
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But in the mayhem, the brunt of the violence was borne by Taiwanese, Hong Kong and South Korean firms, apparently mistaken by rioters for mainland Chinese businesses. Foreign factory owners took to flying Vietnamese or US flags to avoid being swept up in the violence and looting, reports said.
The focus of anger has been China’s decision – despite promises to settle territorial disputes via diplomacy – to deploy an oil rig escorted by a flotilla of coast guard  and other ships off the Vietnamese coast, which resulted in ships ramming into each other and the trading of water cannon fire.
Workers wave Vietnamese flags at a demonstration in an industrial zone in Binh  Duong province on Wednesday. Workers wave Vietnamese flags at a demonstration in an industrial zone in Binh Duong province on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said Vietnam’s obstruction of its drilling rig “violated China’s sovereignty and jurisdiction” and urged the South-east Asian nation to refrain from “further complicating and aggravating the situation”.
Protests outside the Chinese embassy in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi have also persisted, with suggestions of tacit permission from the Vietnamese government, which usually cracks down swiftly on any form of public dissent.
But analysts say the Vietnamese government is also wary the unrest could veer into calls for democracy, noting initial press reports of the violence were removed from the internet hours later. Chinese authorities have also only allowed official Xinhua news agency reports to be published on the Vietnamese protests.
A photo released by the Philippines foreign ministry taken on February 25 showing what Manila says are expanded structures on Johnson South Reef in the South China Sea, which is held by China. A photo released by the Philippines foreign ministry taken on February 25 showing what Manila says are expanded structures on Johnson South Reef in the South China Sea, which is held by China. Photo: AP
Vietnamese authorities said that more than 400 people were arrested after the riots.
"No one knows what really caused the riots - only initially did it seem to be about the Chinese," Truong Huy San, an author and well-known blogger, said after touring the industrial zone. "These were totally uncontrolled crowds."
Adding to the tension in the regions has been growing Philippines protest over China’s reclamation of land at a contested coral reef in the South China Sea.
The Philippines department of foreign affairs on Thursday released a series of photographs gathered by Philippine intelligence sources showing “extensive reclamation” by China on Johnson South Reef, amid claims it plans to build an airstrip on the reef.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, putting it at odds with Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.
Grant Newsham, senior research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, said China’s pattern of behaviour has been to “push and test the response” from other countries, in a long-term game to assert control over the South China Sea.
“Ultimately, it is looking to see what it can get away with,” he said. “Its military capability has markedly increased along with its economic heft, and it is less willing to negotiate and back down.”
with New York Times, Reuters