Taiwan's Grobest Shrimp feed factory survives Vietnam mob violence by claiming to be 'American'
SEAFOODNEWS.COM May 16, 2014
The Vietnamese government was caught flatfooted by the escalation in anti-Chinese mob violence, which was egged on by looters. The Grobest shrimp feed factory, a Taiwanese company, survived by taking down all Chinese character signs, and convincing rioters they were American.
HANOI, May 16 (Reuters) - As a thousand Vietnamese rioters stormed his factory on Tuesday night, smashing windows and ripping down Chinese-language signs, Taiwanese executive Henry Yeh hid with a colleague in the back of a fire truck, clutching the only weapon he could find: a golf club.
"With that many people surrounding us, it was useless. I was afraid they would kill us," said Yeh, 27, who works for a Taiwan textile company at an industrial park in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City.
Yeh and his colleague eventually escaped unscathed. Others were not so fortunate.
What started as heated but peaceful nationwide protests against Chinese oil-drilling in a patch of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam exploded into two days of rioting that left hundreds of Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean factories damaged or destroyed. The Vietnamese government says one person was killed but a doctor at a hospital near one area of rioting said he had seen 21 dead bodies and that at least 100 people were wounded.
Anger over China's maritime claims sparked the unrest, but it was also fuelled by local grievances and exploited by criminal elements intent on looting...
To Read Full Story Login Below.