Vietnamese Representative to Taiwan Bui Trong Van yesterday sought to reassure Taiwanese that the Southeast Asian country remains a safe investment and tourist destination, and called on the local media not to exaggerate reports about the recent unrest, saying it has sparked panic and could damage relations between Hanoi and Taipei.
“Repeated TV broadcasts of the protests have caused large-scale panic among people here in Taiwan. I hope everyone can refrain from exaggerating the situation because that cannot help us work together to get through the difficulty facing us,” Bui said in Mandarin at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bui said he felt regret and apologized for the damage and financial losses that Taiwanese businesses had suffered because of the work of some “lawbreakers and evildoers” during the protests earlier this week in Vietnam.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The protests were held in the wake of China’s deployment of an oil rig in waters close to the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which are claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam and China. The demonstrations turned violent and many businesses owned by investors from Taiwan, China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea were attacked, looted and destroyed.
More than 1,000 people involved “in the violent and illegal actions” were arrested, which shows the Hanoi government’s determination to enforce the law, Bui said.
The Vietnamese government has promised that those who have broken the law will be charged and severely punished, and that it will “take a responsible attitude in dealing with compensation claims” by Taiwanese investors, he said.
“We have done our best and implemented the necessary measures to restore order and, we will continue to react to illegal actions in this way in the future,” he said, alluding to calls in Vietnam for a nationwide protest tomorrow.
The extent of damage caused to properties owned by Taiwanese investors was more serious compared with investors from other countries, but it was not because Taiwanese-owned firms were the target of the protesters, Bui said.
Asked why Taiwanese-owned businesses were attacked, he said: “It’s not because they [the protesters] could not distinguish between Taiwan and China, but that they were instigated [by some groups] and they acted in an irrational manner. There are lawbreakers in every society. They were not specifically targeting Taiwanese.”
Vietnamese are peace-loving people and are friendly toward Taiwan, Bui said.
“There are about 220,000 Vietnamese in Taiwan, married to Taiwanese, new immigrants, workers and college students. They love to work, study and live here,” he said.
Taiwan is the fourth-largest source of foreign direct investment in Vietnam, with total investments over the past 20 years reaching US$28 billion, while bilateral trade totaled US$12 billion, Bui said.
He refuted the allegation that the Vietnamese government had connived with its people to engage in violent behavior.
The government will assist businesses affected by the protests, help them resume operations as soon as possible and ensure peace and order in the country, he added.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat