Chinese ships ferrying evacuees head home from Vietnamese port

VUNG ANG, Vietnam - Some 4,000 Chinese nationals affected by the recent anti-foreign violence in Vietnam are heading home Monday from this central Vietnamese port.

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Beijing has dispatched four ships, each with an accommodation capacity of about 1,000 passengers, from the southern Chinese port city of Haikou for the evacuation mission, and two more are on stand-by.

The first two, Wuzhishan and Tongguling, already departed earlier in the day from Vung Ang, each with more than 900 evacuees, and the two others have both docked for embarkation.

"Finally home," many Chinese workders sighed upon boarding, with apparent signs of relief on their faces.

At least two Chinese were killed and more than 100 injured during last week's deadly spate of violent protests against foreign companies in central and southern Vietnamese provinces. The injured have already been flown home aboard chartered flights.

Most of the evacuees are employees of Metallurgical Corporation of China, a contractor in the construction of an iron and steel complex in Ha Tinh Province. The project, invested by Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group, was among the worst-hit in the riots.

The protests, lootings and arson attacks came after Vietnamese ships and personnel repeatedly harassed the normal operations of a Chinese oil company in undisputed waters in the South China Sea.

Beijing has condemned the violence and demanded that Vietnam take resolute and effective measures to stop all violence, ensure the safety of all Chinese nationals and companies, punish all perpetrators and compensate affected Chinese companies and nationals.

The Chinese government has also dispatched a work group to Vietnam to discuss the matter with Vietnamese authorities, appraise the situation on the ground and facilitate the evacuation jointly with the Chinese diplomatic mission in the southeast Asian country.