Police in Vietnam have detained over 1,000 people on suspicion of inciting recent riots, which left one dead and injured 149 others.

>> Vietnam police arrest 76 suspected inciters of riots, hooligans in Ha Tinh >> Vietnam police detain over 600 rioters in southern localities >> Vietnam premier requires police to safeguard foreign investors Of the detainees, over 800 were arrested in the southern province of Binh Duong, over 200 nabbed in the southern province of Dong Nai, and 76 others captured in Ha Tinh Province in the central region. The riots were provoked on May 13 and 14 by saboteurs who took advantage of peaceful marches against China’s illegal placement of drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in Vietnam’s waters since May 1.  The rioters attacked many companies including foreign-invested enterprises, damaging corporate assets, looting property, and even resisting police officers. Police are classifying them into groups for such charges as “openly appropriating property,” “destroying or deliberately damaging property,” “causing public disorder,” and “resisting persons in the performance of their official duties.”  On Thursday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung issued an official message to the Ministry of Public Security, relevant ministries, and local authorities, demanding they protect foreign investors. The premier also required that authorities strictly punish those who instigated the riots.Quarrel led to deadly fight On Wednesday afternoon, a fight broke out between a group of Vietnamese workers and another of their Chinese co-workers at a construction site of the Formosa project in the Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ky Anh District, Ha Tinh Province, leaving a person dead and 149 others injured, Nguyen Truong, deputy head of a provincial ideology department, said at a press conference held on Thursday afternoon. The fight was triggered by some people who incited others by saying one Vietnamese had been beaten to death. This statement was spread, leading to Vietnamese workers gathering and quarreling with their Chinese co-workers, Truong said. The quarrel later escalated into a fight between the two sides, he added. Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Danh, deputy head of the Ky Anh Party Committee, said that the two groups threw stones at each other after they had a row about China’s illegal placement of the drilling platform in Vietnam’s water. After the deadly incident, police arrested 76 people and took steps to restore order and security in the area, said Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thanh Liem, deputy chief of Ha Tinh police. All foreign workers at the Formosa project have been put in safe accommodations, Le Thanh Long, deputy secretary of the Ha Tinh Party Committee, said.300 face criminal charges in Binh Duong Major General Vo Thanh Duc, director of the Binh Duong Police Department, said on May 15 afternoon that local police officiers arrested more than 800 people, of whom 300 are facing criminal charges. Police yesterday also called on people who took away assets from companies at local industrial parks to return them. They later received a large volume of stolen things including home utensils and manufacturing facilities, the official said. The same day, Vice Minister of Public Security To Lam led a working group to visit the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park 1 in the province. At a meeting with the management board of the park, Lam said his ministry will direct local police to take measures to prevent any similar incident in the future. The park is among the most affected places during the worker riots in Binh Duong.Dong Nai: 6 indicted for rioting     Based on the investigation results of local police, the prosecutor’s offices in Nhon Trach and Trang Bom Districts and in Bien Hoa City, the provicial capital, on Thursday issued decisions to indict six people on charges of causing public disorder and destroying or deliberately damaging property.  The six people were arrested after causing riots at the Tam Phuoc Industrial Park in Bien Hoa on May 13 evening. They are jobless and have no stable residence, Bien Hoa police said, adding they took advantage of the peaceful marches to incite others to launch attacks on businesses to steal assets from them.

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