[VIDEO] China Ships Evacuate Thousands from Vietnam: Xinhua

Policemen ask people to leave a street near the Chinese embassy in Hanoi on May 18, 2014 (AFP Photo)

Beijing (AFP) – Almost 2,000 Chinese citizens were evacuated from riot-hit Vietnam by sea on Monday, with another two ships following, as Hanoi stifled fresh protests over a territorial dispute and foreign investors counted the cost.

The passenger vessels Wuzhishan and Tongguling left the central Vietnamese port of Vung Ang, each with more than 900 evacuees on board, China’s official news agency Xinhua reported.

They were among four Chinese ships — each with a capacity of about 1,000 people — sent to Vietnam, Xinhua said, with another two on standby.

Workers voiced relief as they boarded the vessels, the agency reported, with some declaring: “Finally home.”

Relations between communist neighbours Vietnam and China have plummeted following Beijing’s move earlier this month to send a deep-water drilling rig into contested waters in the South China Sea.

Two Chinese nationals were killed and about 140 injured when enraged mobs torched or otherwise damaged hundreds of foreign-owned businesses in Vietnam last week.

More than 3,000 Chinese have already returned home from Vietnam by sea and air, reports said at the weekend.

Determined to avoid a repeat of the violence, authorities deployed heavy security in various cities around the country on Sunday to smother an attempt by activist groups to stage fresh, coordinated demonstrations against Beijing’s actions.

There were no reports of any further disturbances in Vietnam on Monday and Hanoi was calm, with authorities scaling back the heavy security presence that had blocked access to the Chinese embassy and other key points in the city.

“The situation has returned to normal now,” the official Vietnam News Agency said.

In its first reference to the Chinese evacuations, it added that Vietnamese authorities “did their utmost to facilitate” the exodus…(read more)

Yahoo News – BBC News/YouTube

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