Vietnam riot takes fatal turn

epa04206326 Workers hold banners reading 'Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands belong to Vietnam', near Formosa factory, in Ha Tinh, Vietnam, 15 May 2014. According to media reports on 15 May, a Chinese worker was killed and at least 90 people were reported injured in riots in central Vietnam at a Taiwanese steel plant mistaken for a Chinese mainland one. In southern Vietnam 15 foreign-owned factories were destroyed and ten cars were torched, local media quoted Binh Duong province police chief Major General Nguyen Duc Thanh as saying on 14 May. Vietnamese police arrested 191 people for causing public disorder and inciting workers to damage property during a wave of anti-China protests, local media reported on 14 May. Police said about 100 factories suffered damage, mostly Taiwanese and Chinese, the reports said. The protests were triggered by China's deployment of an oil rig in what Vietnam considers to be its territory in the South China Sea. EPA/STR

HANOI: A 1,000-strong mob stormed a Taiwanese steel mill in Vietnam overnight, killing a Chinese worker and injuring 141 others, Taiwan’s ambassador and police said, the first deadly incident in a wave of unruly anti-China protests prompted by Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig in disputed seas.

The unrest is emerging as a major challenge for Vietnam’s authoritarian and secretive leadership, and is hurting the country’s reputation as a safe investment destination. It risks inflaming an already dangerous standoff between patrol ships from both countries in the South China Sea close to the rig, which Hanoi is demanding Beijing withdraw.