A territorial dispute in Southeast Asian waters between China and Vietnam has led to widespread protests of foreign-owned factories in southern Vietnam, international news outlets reported Wednesday.
The dispute was ratcheted up this week after China placed an oil rig in the disputed waters in early May, with the unrest at industrial parks near Ho Chi Minh City the most serious outbreak of public disorder in the tightly controlled country in years, according to an AP report.
“It points to the dangers for the government as it tries to manage public anger at China while also itself protesting the Chinese actions in an area of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam,” the report said.
At least 15 factories were reported to have been looted or set afire. Many, however, were owned by Korean or Taiwanese interests, not Chinese.
Tensions between Vietnam and China are a tricky subject for Vietnam’s government to manage, as China invested $2.3 billion into Vietnam in 2013 and is the country’s largest trading partner.
Negotiations over the disputed waters were said to have been handled quietly until early May, when China towed a deep sea rig to the Paracel Islands, which are controlled by China but claimed by Vietnam. Vietnamese ships sent to disrupt the installation clashed with Chinese ships sent to protect the rig, AP reported.
Vietnam protesters loot foreign factories to protest China territorial claim
