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Vietnam shaken by worst anti-China unrest in decades

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Vietnam has some cajones where the others do not. Good to see China is getting some backlash from their jingoistic antics.

14 ( +19 / -5 )

China has done exactly this to Japan in recent years, quietly allowing destruction of property by mobs. Now China must be getting a taste of how it feels, this time from the Vietnamese.

19 ( +23 / -4 )

Giggles, laughs and even more giggles and laughs. The Peoples Republic of China has had this coming for many years. The only friends The PRC has is Korea both North and South.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Looks like China is getting a bit of its own medicine here... except in this case, the riots are probably more genuine and less organized by the ruling party.

14 ( +18 / -4 )

I don't condone this, but China has staged this kind of event itself before (with Japan as the target).

Ultimately, what comes around, goes around.

11 ( +15 / -4 )

Anyone remember the riots in China last year where uniformed police officers stood back with bemused expressions on their faces while Chinese mobs freely looted and pillaged Japanese businesses like AEON Mall?

If not for the needless lost of productivity and property, I'd laugh right now. When I think of all this destructive public expression of anger against China, two words pop to mind: "Reap" and "Sow."

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Vietnam giving China a taste of their own poison.

Chinese not welcome anywhere it seems.

8 ( +12 / -4 )

always the way forward in Asia it seems. Just destroy stuff which has little or nothing to do with the issue at hand. I am ofter amazed at the degree of nationalist vehemence with which these issues are expressed.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

While china keeps digging itself deeper into a hole the rest of asia becomes tired of its belligerence and arrogance, soon the push will come to shove and then watch out, the big bad neighbour will get its nose bloodied.

At the moment china is using the oil rig near Vietnam as a test of the USA resolve to help it allies, next it will try the same tactic with japan and the senkakus.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

go Vietnam! I just hope the Philippines fdo the same! There are so many Chinese companies there even more than their own factories! China needs to learn how to respect or be bombarded by the whole world's anger against them!

9 ( +11 / -2 )

China wants to replace America as World no.1 but it does not have American civilisation , or friendship ,or sense of righteousness or generosity ...only aggression ! China has lost its wisdom by choosing Viet Nam , a friend, an almost a brother from time to time, to display its arrogance.

China wants to replace America as World No.1 but it does not have American civilisation ,or friendship or sense of righteousness or generosity...only aggression ! China has lost its wisdom by choosing Viet Nam , a friend, and almost a brother from time to time, to display its arrogance. Bad choice. It will fail, as it always failed for the last few thousands years.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Agreed, no-one should do this to anyone. Period.

But it is an indication to the world of the mounting anger being felt in Vietnam recently over China's maritime behavior.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Karma.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Both Vietnam and China are repressive and authoritarian regimes, the US and West should tread carefully over the crisis. Based on the lesson learned in Ukraine, imprudent involvement could backfire. (Uncertainty will hurt American and Japanese investments in Vietnam)

Another thing is that like Ukraine, Vietnam is not very strategically sound place for the US and West to pick a battle. Both Ukraine and Vietnam are physically situated next to the aggressors who hold many advantages ranging from their military might to a stone throw distance. In addition, both Russia and China are dead serious over foreign forces that have a tendency to station next to its lands form the past.

There is sufficient reason to believe that Xi’s move on Vietnam is a calibrated and calculated action. Traditionally, Russia is Vietnam’s big backer, but right now Russia needs China for its economic survival as the US and West turn on the heat with pending sanctions, so Russia may stay silent for a while. That would give Chinese regime a window of opportunity to put pressure on Vietnam.

I believe that after a period of anger and dismay, Vietnam might work out some sort of agreement with China if history can provide some hints: After Chinese invasion in 1979, the relation between Vietnam and China deteriorated, but years later they signed a peace agreement after Vietnam lets China keep some of the disputed land.

These riots taking place in Vietnam could also reflect certian degrees of dissatisfactions from vietnamese toward its own govt the same way expressed by Chinese in 2012.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

If the Philippines does the same as Vietnam, it will be the beging of the end for China. They need us more than we need them. And when it all comes tumbling down, China will enplode on itself! And the rest of the world will be watching from a distance!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

The pressurized cooker is finally explored. We are really angry and our government try to control but can not keep the lit on this time to stop us expressing our anger.

We are getting sick and tired of hearing our poor fishermen sad stories every week from china harassment for fishing within our 200 miles coastal of the East-sea. Many fishermen boats got mashed, burned or sink by china big ships. Some lucky survived to tell the real story on news papers. The lucky boats got towed to china controlled ports holding for ransoms.

We all love our country Viet Nam, but could not take any more bully and beating from china without doing something about it.

It was a initial peaceful demonstration, but some people went a little mad. I understand it look ugly, and I am here offer my apology to our friends around the world. We thank you for your strong support.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

'Taiwanese and South Korean plants were affected along with Chinese factories.'

Pretty disgusting really and it's sad that most posters didn't make mention of this.

The riots in China destroying the shops of those with no hand in their country's foreign policy was disgraceful and sickening and the same applies here. Attacking security guards? Yes, I'm sure they deserved that.

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

Taiwanese and South Korean plants were affected along with Chinese factories.'

Dear mr Jimizo. It is a wrong information because there is no Korean companies or properties effected. You will read the real news over the next few weeks.

Some confusions with the Taiwanese companies because the mad no educate people don't know the differences between China and Taiwan. I think you would do the same if get angry like us and won't say sorry.

It started as a peaceful demonstration and some people went mad. Things have now calmed down, and all those mad people got arrested by the authority.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

Let's all ponder now on the Chinese monster we created when we decided to do business with nothing more than an autocratic regime.

Next time you try so save a few bucks by buying shite made in "Beautiful China", try to take into accounts the costs and consequence 5 years down the road, when China is even more arrogant and assertive than it is today...

9 ( +9 / -0 )

Shame on the halfwit, uneducated Communist youth engaging in these attacks on Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean businesses. 99 percent of the impact will be felt by the Vietnamese workers who will now have no income. Just the same reactionary stupidity we see from that other one-party-state, China. Peas in a pod, these two governments.

The Vietnamese Communist elite egging them on will still be sipping their French Brandy tonight.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

I don't think this is doing Japan doing any favors by pillaging foreign manufacturing centers.. It just happens to focus on China, but Japanese, and Taiwanese factories could be easily targeted too, lest we forget looting and pillaging knows no nationality. Only anarchy.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Vietnam has been plundered and exploited by many countries over their history.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Yep everybody around the world is doing the land grab. Wars are only fought over resources. Thats why nobody does anything over North Korea China new trick over suing Japan for war crimes. Let see if Vietnam pull this one out of the hat somehow.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Dear mr Jimizo. It is a wrong information because there is no Korean companies or properties effected. You will read the real news over the next few weeks. Some confusions with the Taiwanese companies because the mad no educate people don't know the differences between China and Taiwan. I think you would do the same if get angry like us and won't say sorry. It started as a peaceful demonstration and some people went mad. Things have now calmed down, and all those mad people got arrested by the authority.

New York Times is reporting at least 50 South Korean Factories and 2 Singaporean Factories.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Freshie,

Don't believe all the propaganda that you read from newspapers

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Don't believe all the propaganda that you read from newspapers

There are many sources reporting damage, not just New York Times. Just search "Vietnam South Korea Factories." I'm inclined to believe the news if it's for multiple sources.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

It's a pity normal hardworking Vietnamese folks don't know about the difference between Taiwan and China. Taiwan is not China for goodness sake...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@BurakuminDes: It is easy for us to look from the outside and with your critic comments..........

You would understand the reason why....... if read the Vietnamese news on how many poor Vietnam fishermen are rescued from the sea weekly since China stepped up the claim of the south china sea.

Anger by the young people in this case is genuine..... and this kind of riots is to expected in the US or anywhere else with opportunists looting.

Demonstration against China's aggression like this have been suppressed by the authority for years in fear of upsetting big brother china........ I am surprised Vietnam's young people have managed to hold back for so long....

The authority must be very careful now in dealing with theses arrests, not to send the wrong message of pro China's stand and further inflame the anger of the people.

I believe they will topple the government on the next riot..............

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Wait what? The Vietnamese are expressing their anger with China's aggressive action, and they're being criticized by this? In what insane dimension does that make sense? China has brought this on themselves. They should be slapped with the bill for the damage caused, as well as making compensations for the harm. It is China's aggressive actions that have lead to this unrest, and they should be the ones to pay the price for it. I'm not surprised the Vietnamese are angry. Hell, I'm displeased with China, and I'm British, living in Britain. If I lived out in Vietnam, I'd be pretty pissed with China as well, and rightly so. No-one in their right mind would be happy with China trying to claim all of the SCS as aggressively as they have been.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

This is just the tip of a huge dangerous iceberg, there is more on the way.

Communist China is beginning to reap what it has sowed for many years. When it is all said and done Communist China will get theirs in spades, in spades.

ohayo206MAY. 15, 2014 - 02:22AM JST I don't think this is doing Japan doing any favors by pillaging foreign manufacturing centers..

This has little to do with Japan and everything to do with anger against Communist China. For my retort I shall use pillage. Communist China is pillaging Vietnam's territory, so Vietnam is now pillaging Communist China linked factories.

EthanWilberMAY. 14, 2014 - 09:33PM JST These riots taking place in Vietnam could also reflect certian degrees of dissatisfactions from vietnamese toward its own govt the same way expressed by Chinese in 2012.

Oh I see, when these guys are saying that they hate Communist China's invasion of their territory they really mean, "we hate our own government", Where do you come up with this stuff? Too funny man, talk about minimizing.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Dear Freshie, If you know about the history of Viet Nam then you can understand why our southern youths are angry enough to organize this massive demonstration. Just only some people went mad and damaged properties. You can read better information about the situation from Voice of America; http://www.voanews.com/content/vietnam-protesters-torch-chinese-factories-over-territorial-dispute/1914121.html

Dear ferrariboy69, There are many china nationals employed in Taiwan and Singapore businesses and factories. Many are arrogant, unkind and bad bosses, hence caused trouble on those properties by those mad riots.

Dear Fox Cloud Lelean, We do feel much anger as human like you. Thank you.

Dear Kenny76, You are correct about the cause of the people anger. I am staying up all night following news. Things are much calmer now. I do hope things don't get bad for our government like you say.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

'Communist China is pillaging Vietnam's....'

Shouldn't that be 'Communist China and Communist Vietnam's....'?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

I think you would do the same if get angry like us and won't say sorry.

If I got angry I would start setting factories on fire, looting and attacking offices?

No I wouldn't.

Being righteously angry is one thing, going bonkers and attacking innocent people is quite another.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

The riots show the “hazards of nationalist fervor unleashed, particularly in repressive institutional environments such as Vietnam,”

I'll say it does.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Dear Jimozo, Viet Nam country is a "Cộng hòa Xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam" meaning "Socialist Republic of Vietnam". I believe we will soon move in to a Democratic society after this event. I like the sound of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

"If I got angry I would start setting factories on fire, looting and attacking offices? No I wouldn't." Dear cleo, you are indeed an Angel if you can do just that. A bow of respect from me !

I was referring to the massive anti china bullying demonstration. I won't come here to offer my apology if approved such wild destruction of properties.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Interesting to see the Chinese media reaction! This is from Xinhua english.

"But the latest string of deadly attacks by Vietnamese mobs against Chinese citizens and companies in Vietnam are particularly worrying.

The senseless attacks, which came after Vietnamese ships and personnel repeatedly harassed the normal operations by a Chinese oil company in undisputed waters in the South China Sea, cannot be justified under any circumstances."

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Tiny world in the bottle !!. The Chinese citizens need to know the outside world.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The truth is that China does not care. The world peace is a foreign language to them.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

There are many S Korean and Taiwanese factories along Chinese factories. More Japanese factories. These people might not know Taiwan is not China or S Korea is not N Korea but they sure know Japan is not China,

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@toshiko: All comments from Vietnamese people I read in many Vietnamese news websites are calling for calm and condemned the recent riots..... The local authorities are now prosecuting a few hundred of rioters... You need Google translate to read this: http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20140514/bat-giu-191-doi-tuong-gay-roi-kich-dong-o-binh-duong.aspx

I haven't seen any photos, but only read some reports mentioned a small over exited group of demonstrators crashed gates of some non-Chinese factories, to get workers join the mass a few days ago. If there is any physical damages to Korean or Japanese factories then could be just entry gates.

My real concern today is a news reported of a few hundred Vietnamese workers got hospitalized from drinking water in two factories in the north. The authority is calling for calm. What on earth is going on ?.

Google translate to read this article: http://www.thanhnien.com.vn/pages/20140515/vu-hang-tram-cong-nhan-nhap-vien-sau-khi-uong-nuoc-khong-phat-hien-chat-doc.aspx

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Kenny76: Thank you very much. Maybe you know this. Vietnam and Japan had friendly trade relationship until WW II Example is in 753, when Japanese emissary to China Nakamaro Abe group was shipwrecked, Vietnamese rescued and they live in Hanoi for several years. In Kyushu, many ceramics from Vietnam had been discovered.

Jope Japanese corporations in Vietnam will help injured people and work for the Govt cause there,

1 ( +1 / -0 )

More and more Taiwan businessmen and their families come back Taiwan now, from TV news you can see some of them complained about Vietnam police didn't do anything and some are not happy about no actions taken from governments... etc. and almost everyone said most of the mob just took this chance to rob everything like office/plant computers, various appliances and food... News say it's more than 20 people were killed by the mob so far... many of these scared people said they'll never go Vietnam~

2 ( +2 / -0 )

News say it's more than 20 people were killed by the mob so far

source please, don't go around spreading false rumour. The riot in Vietnam was caused by the opportunists/looters/anti-Vietnam traitors, nothing like China where the riots against Japan corps are orchestrated by the CCP.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@toshiko: Young people of Vietnam respect and look up to Japan as a big brother figure to develop their country future. Vietnam is a country with a young population. I won't be surprised to see Vietnam to foster a stronger alliance with Japan, and come to help protecting Japan in the future.

@yosun: The authority is doing their best to control the situation, not to further inflame the anger of the people with China. Only demonstrators and hundred local polices got injured. They are not attacking foreigners. No spreading rumor please !.

@blackrock: Rightly so!. It is a genuine demonstration as people have been bottled inside for so long from big red bro aggression. Sadly, those opportunist looters always there from any riots occurred in the US, Europe or UK or anywhere else.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@blackrockMay. 16, 2014 - 02:21AM JST source please, don't go around spreading false rumour. The riot in Vietnam was caused by the opportunists/looters/anti-Vietnam traitors, nothing like China where the riots against Japan corps are orchestrated by the CCP.

& @Kenny76May. 16, 2014 - 07:48AM JST They are not attacking foreigners. No spreading rumor please !.

HANOI Thu May 15, 2014 9:32am EDT (Reuters) - Up to 21 people were killed in Vietnam, a doctor said on Thursday, and a huge foreign steel project was set ablaze as anti-China riots spread to the centre of the country a day after arson and looting in the south. The doctor at a hospital in central Ha Tinh province said five Vietnamese workers and 16 other people described as Chinese were killed on Wednesday night in rioting......

Rumors? Just see what these barbariabs are doing! if they're so angry, they should send troops to fight China army instead of kill empty-hand civilian!

On the other hand, even Chinaese was also wrong to destroy some JP plants but not any one Japanese was killed in China when China riots happened couple years ago.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@yosun: I won't wish to repeat myself here... but

If you bother to do some research and reading on this riot to find the real cause then you would understand the situation better..

Sadly, this is more or less relating to an industrial dispute in the boiling, and a spark of violence is just waiting to happen. This anti China demonstration event is just an excuse to trigger it.

The steel industrial complex Formosa in the north is under construction by a China's based contractor with a few thousand China's national workers and supervisors onsite. You know what they can be like as bosses.

The local Vietnamese workers are treated differently on the construction site, some have not been paid for a few months. In this case, It is the Taiwan based company, Formosa's management has created such a unfavorable and volatile working conditions on site, and is just simply asking for an industrial trouble.

The Taiwan and Singapore corps should learn from this event, try to hire more local workers to run for your overseas businesses. Using ultra China nationals as managers and supervisors for businesses in Vietnam, Philippine and other non Chinese speaking countries will not work well. A basic human resources management stuffs... good luck !

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Not too happy this time because the Chinese is at the receiving end. How quickly the Chinese forget they did the same to the Japanese factories in China. This is what you call quick leaner, copy from the master. Take one to know one. Genki/Flash 100% agreed. The Domino effect theory.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@Kenny76May. 16, 2014 - 12:37PM JST

My point is that anyway they can't kill people! It's just like terrorists, no matter why they hate the US or or other countries, they can't revenge by killing innocent American... etc.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I think (Just my guess) Vietnamese people knows Japan Inc. were there to assist modernization of Vietnmaese Industry . And they know Taiwanese and Koreans corporations are not in such position. i hope Japan Inc will nurture Vietnamese industry because Japan need Vietnam as its trade partner more than Vietnam need Japan. Oil pipeline? Japan probably prefers to purchase from Vietnam than from China.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@yosun: It is a very sad situation, tit for tat at the Formosa construction site. Both sides got injured and killed. It is a very very sad situation. China started it all and should take the full responsibility, so enough of it, stop whinging will ya !..

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@ Kenny76: I agree it's sad but I think that any country keep complaining others will only make themselves looks worse!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Japan and South Korea have to unite together and fight against China that's why Obama wants Japan to have a bigger army so South Korea and Japan can teach a lesson !

1 ( +2 / -1 )

After reading all the comments, I know some of you struggling finding the truth that happened in our country. Here are the link of the largest and most credible newspaper of Vietnam: http://tuoitrenews.vn/ Any confirmed news would be posted on that website and you don't have to use translate tool to read it :) all the posts are translated into English. Hope I could help you to know more about our situation here. Thanks

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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