Hong Kong issues Vietnam travel warning after mobs torch Chinese factories
China's embassy issues a warning as anti-China sentiment runs high in Vietnam
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 14 May, 2014, 12:23pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 14 May, 2014, 11:41pm
Denise Tsang and Agencies in Hanoi
Sources say Vietnamese protesters set fire to about 10 Chinese-owned factories. Photo: SCMP Pictures
The Hong Kong government has issued an amber travel warning for Vietnam, after mobs of rioters torched at least 15 foreign-owned factories following a large protest by workers against China's placement of an oil rig in disputed South China Sea waters.
The warning means Hongkongers visiting the country must carefully consider their travel plans.
Several thousand Vietnamese workers protested at Chinese-owned factories, setting some of them ablaze, as anger flared at Beijing''s deployment of an oil rig in the Paracel Islands. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Hong Kong was the sixth-biggest foreign investor in Vietnam last year, with most investments in manufacturing, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Finance.
In the wake of the attacks, Yue Yuen Industrial, a Taiwanese-controlled but Hong Kong-listed company making Nike and Adidas sports shoes, suspended production in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday and sent its 100,000-strong workforce home, spokesman Jerry Shum said. "We hope to resume production ASAP," he said.
Several thousand Vietnamese workers protested at Chinese-owned factories, setting some of them ablaze, as anger flared at Beijing''s deployment of an oil rig in the Paracel Islands. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Yue Yuen's output from Vietnam's output accounts for one-third of its total production, with the rest coming equally from China and Indonesia. "Fortunately, we are not affected by the social unrest," Shum said.
Felix Chung Kwok-pan, a legislator for the textiles and garment constituency, said yesterday that there were hundreds of Hong Kong-owned garment and textile factories in Vietnam, and the labour-intensive garment industry was the biggest victim of the anti-Chinese riots.
Demonstrations turned into riots at an industrial park near Ho Chi Minh City.
He urged the Hong Kong government to reach agreements with south-east Asia countries to protect interests of Hong Kong investors.
A Hong Kong garment manufacturer in Ho Chi Minh who did not want to be name said his factory had so far escaped he protests unscathed, partly helped by a disguised Chinese identity.
"We are a joint venture with a local Vietnamese investor, and luckily we don't have any Chinese writing at our factory entrance," he said. "Factories with Chinese writing or names are targets of destruction."
The unrest at industrial parks close to Ho Chi Minh City is the most serious outbreak of public disorder in Vietnam in years. It points to the dangers for the government as it manages public anger at China while also protesting against Chinese actions in the South China Sea.
China's Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Hanoi issued warnings to Chinese citizens. The embassy's website said it saw no end to attacks and urged Chinese to take safety precautions and avoid unnecessary travel.
Additional reporting by Associated Press