S'poreans in Vietnam say safety not affected by anti-China riots

SINGAPORE - After Vietnam was hit by a series of anti-China riots recently, Singaporeans there said they were not targeted.

Mr Steven Choo, a self-employed IT trainer, was in Ho Chi Minh City to set up a training programme with a Vietnamese business partner and will return only when the project is over.

The 48-year-old said: "If you speak English or Singlish, you'll not be targeted. Singaporeans are safe, there's no need to worry."

He added that the locals differentiate between Chinese Singaporeans, who speak English, and people from China, who usually don't.

But Mr Choo hasn't had to speak Singlish just to identify himself as a Singaporean because he kept a low profile and stayed away from the riot-affected areas.

Manager Siraj Ahamad returned to Singapore from his holiday in Ho Chi Minh City last Friday night.

The 61-year-old said: "It was very peaceful in Ho Chi Minh City with no signs of riots. In fact, the Vietnamese are not hostile towards Singaporeans and we were warmly treated."

Singaporeans sat up and took greater notice of the issue when a Singapore flag was burned by demonstrators in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park 1 in southern Binh Duong province.

The incident happened last Tuesday and it has sparked concerns that Singaporeans may be targeted.

Last Wednesday, the Singapore Embassy in Hanoi sent strong concerns over the incident to the Vietnamese government via a diplomatic note.

An advisory was also issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

It said Singaporeans in Vietnam who require consular assistance can contact the Singapore Embassy in Hanoi, the Singapore Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City, or the MFA 24-hour duty office.

There has been much speculation about the intentions of the rioters.

Mr Ven Tran, 30, an accounts manager with DB Schenker Vietnam, had an explanation.

TOOK ADVANTAGE

The German logistics company is based in riot-hit Song Than Industrial Park in Binh Duong and Mr Ven said Taiwanese company Chutex, a five-minute drive from his building, was targeted by workers who took advantage of the chaotic situation.

He felt the Singaporean flag was burnt only because rioters were in a rampaging mood, and not for political reasons.

Vietnamese student Durong Dat, 18, at the National University of Singapore, said the rioters may have picked the wrong target.

"I see more looters than rioters. The riots happened because their living standards are low. They also cannot differentiate between the flags of China and Singapore," he said.

Vietnam increases security after anti-China unrest

Vietnamese authorities set up a heavy police presence in major cities to discourage anti-China protests yesterday as Beijing evacuated thousands of its citizens following a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea last week.

China has evacuated more than 3,000 nationals after attacks on Chinese workers and Chinese-owned businesses at industrial parks in its southern neighbour.

Yesterday, China arranged two chartered flights to take nearly 300 people, many of them injured, home to its south-western city of Chengdu, while five ships were on their way to Vietnam to bring out more people, reported Xinhua.

Sixteen critically-injured people were evacuated separately aboard a chartered medical flight in the morning, China's foreign ministry said.

Several arrests were made in capital Hanoi and commercial hub Ho Chi Minh City within minutes of groups trying to start protests, according to witnesses, as Vietnam's rulers stuck to their vow to thwart any repeat of last week's violence in three provinces in the south and centre.

Fury has gripped Vietnam after Chinese state energy firm CNOOC deployed dozens of ships two weeks ago and towed a US$1 billion (S$1.25 billion) oil rig to a location 240km off Vietnam's coast in an area that is claimed by both countries.

It was one of the most assertive moves that China has made in seas that are believed to be endowed with billions of barrels worth of oil.

The move came just days after US President Barack Obama visited several Asian allies engaged in territorial disputes with China.

The US described China's action as provocative and said Beijing's fraught relations with neighbours could potentially strain ties with the US.

Protests of hundreds in Vietnam's cities were allowed a week ago, a rare move in a state that usually suppresses them.

However, what started as a peaceful march in two southern industrialised provinces last Monday spiralled a day later into a rampage of arson, destruction and looting of Chinese-owned factories and Taiwanese businesses mistaken for being Chinese.

CLASH

Fighting between Vietnamese and Chinese workers broke out in central Ha Tinh province last Wednesday, killing two people and wounding 140, the government said.

China's foreign ministry put the casualties at two dead and 100 injured, Xinhua reported.

A doctor and a witness, however, said they saw between 13 and 21 dead bodies, mostly Chinese, on the night of the unrest.

Said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman yesterday: "The severe violence targeting foreign companies in Vietnam since May 13 has caused casualties and property losses for Chinese nationals.

"This has destroyed the atmosphere and conditions for bilateral communication and cooperation." - Reuters.

How did riots happen?

Anti-China protests in Vietnam started earlier this month, following China's deployment of an oil rig near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, which sparked sea skirmishes.

Rioters soon turned their focus on Chinese-owned factories and attacked them, resulting in more than 20 deaths.

Riots took place mostly in the southern province of Binh Duong. Factories of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks in the province were among those targeted.

Local authorities have urged demonstrators to comply with laws and promised that measures will be taken to ensure the safety and property of investors at industrial parks.

This is one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since a brief border war in 1979.

The riots will affect the lives of many. Said Mr Ven: "I feel sad because workers will be jobless as the factories are burnt."

This article was published on May 19 in The New Paper.

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