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.
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
TECH EFFECT: While Chiayi County was the oldest region in the nation, Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s chip industry, were the youngest, the report showed Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report. A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018. In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said. That
‘UNITED FRONT’: The married couple allegedly produced talk show videos for platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to influence Taiwan’s politics A husband and wife affiliated with the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) were indicted yesterday for allegedly receiving NT$74 million (US$2.32 million) from China to make radio and digital media propaganda to promote the Chinese government’s political agenda and influence the outcome of Taiwan’s elections. Chang Meng-chung (張孟崇) and his wife, Hung Wen-ting (洪文婷), allegedly received a total of NT$74 million from China between 2021 and last year to promote candidates favored by Beijing, contravening the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) and election laws, the Chiayi District Prosecutors’ Office said. The couple acted as Beijing’s propaganda mouthpiece by disparaging Hong Kong democracy activists
EARLY ARRIVALS: The first sets of HIMARS purchased from the US arrived ahead of their scheduled delivery, with troops already training on the platforms, a source said The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it spotted 35 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and bombers, flying to the south of Taiwan proper on the way to exercises in the Pacific, a second consecutive day it has reported such activities. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the missions, reported just days before tomorrow’s US presidential election. The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Its arms sales to Taipei include a US$2 billion missile system announced last month. The MND said that from 9am yesterday,
RSS