China raises travel alert, suspends Chinese-Vietnamese projects due to riots

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Workers wave Vietnamese national flags during an anti-China protest at a Chinese-owned shoe factory in Vietnam's northern Thai Binh province May 14, 2014. Thousands of Vietnamese set fire last week to foreign factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam. REUTERS/Stringer
Workers wave Vietnamese national flags during an anti-China protest at a Chinese-owned shoe factory in Vietnam’s northern Thai Binh province May 14, 2014. Thousands of Vietnamese set fire last week to foreign factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam. REUTERS/Stringer

 (Reuters) — China on Monday (May 19) raised its travel alert for Vietnam and said it has already suspended some joint projects with the country.

China reported it had evacuated about 4,000 people from its southern neighbour, after a flare-up over disputed sovereignty in the South China Sea sparked rare and deadly rioting in Vietnamlast week.

“China has raised the travel alert to Vietnam to ‘temporarily unsuitable for travelling.’ At the same time, due to the current situation, China has no choice but to suspend some Chinese-Vietnam joint projects. We will decide on our next steps according to how the situation develops,” Hong said.

A flare-up over disputed sovereignty in the South China Sea sparked protests in Vietnam that spiralled into a rampage of arson, destruction and looting of Chinese-owned factories, and other businesses mistaken for being Chinese.

Fighting between Vietnamese and Chinese workers broke out in central Ha Tinh province on Wednesday killing two people and wounding 140, Vietnam said. China’s foreign ministry also put the casualties at two dead and 100 injured, Xinhua said.