After Nearly a Week of Violence, Anti-Chinese Protests End in Vietnam

The Vietnamese government has stopped anti-Chinese protesters from gathering outside the Chinese Embassy in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday. The strong anti-Chinese demonstrators have been creating violence from almost a week in response to the positioning of a Chinese oil rig in the disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Chinese Consulate was under heavy police guard as well as squads of officers outside the building urging pedestrians to pass on. As a response to the violence created by protesters, the Vietnamese government announced that any demonstrators would be arrested. The Chinese government has been sending aid to help Chinese workers in Vietnam to return to China to escape the violence, and many have up and left by themselves. While Vietnam has put a stop to the protesters' violence, coast guard vessels by both China and Vietnam remain in the East Asian Sea, surrounding the billion-dollar oil rig. So far the ships has rammed each other and the Chinese have fired water cannons, but so far no major damage has occurred. However, American experts say the chances of a major standoff is high, possibly until August 18th when China plans to move the oil rig because of typhoon season. So far, there has been no progress towards a solution to the impasse between the two states.

-Ambrielle Barker

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/19/world/asia/anti-chinese-protests-end-in-vietnam.html?ref=world