4,000 more Chinese nationals to be evacuated from Vietnam

CHENGDU - Over 290 Chinese nationals affected in Vietnam's anti-China riots arrived in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu on Sunday afternoon, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry press release.

An additional 4,000 Chinese nationals will begin their trip back home Monday, according to a Xinhua report.

The ministry said they were sent back by two chartered planes of China Southern Airlines organized by the Chinese government. Over 100 of them were injured in the recent deadly violence against foreign businesses and citizens including the staff of China Metallurgical Group Corporation.

Early Sunday morning, 16 critically injured Chinese nationals were evacuated from Vietnam aboard a chartered medical flight arranged by the Chinese government.

The 16 people suffered concussion, soft tissue injuries and bone fractures, said Tan Bo, a doctor at the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital.

"When I see you, I no longer feel frightened," Cao Wenjun told medical staff when the injured Chinese national from Panzhihua of Sichuan province was carried to an ambulance waiting on the airport apron.

"We feel safe after returning home," said Cao in tears with his head wrapped in gauze. "The medical conditions there (in Vietnam) are not very good."

Cao and other critically injured were sent to two major hospitals in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, on ambulances.

Those with slight injuries were sent to hospitals for further diagnosis and treatment. Many of them were seen wiping off tears on the buses the government sent to pick up them.

A worker from the China Metallurgical Group Corporation who came to greet their colleagues said it is inspiring that the Chinese government sent chartered planes to evacuate its citizens.

He also said he was shocked and infuriated at Vietnam's violence against foreign businesses and citizens.

An iron and steel complex in Ha Tinh Province of Vietnam, invested by Taipei-based Formosa Plastics Group, was badly hit in the violent attacks triggered by disputes in the South China Sea.

The China 19th Metallurgical Corporation (MCC19) is a contractor for construction of the plant.

Guo Wenqing, president of China Metallurgigal Croup Corporation, said only 30 staff of MCC19 will remain in Vietnam and the rest would come back aboard the chartered planes and ships.

Besides the first chartered planes organized by the Chinese government, the Chinese Ministry of Transport said China is also sending five ships to Vietnam on Sunday to evacuate its nationals.

Two Chinese nationals have been killed and more than 100 others injured in the deadly anti-China riots starting in Vietnam last week.

China's Foreign Ministry said early Sunday that more than 3,000 Chinese nationals had been evacuated from Vietnam as of Saturday afternoon.

The deadly attacks against Chinese personnel and companies in Vietnam happened after China frustrated a series of provocative moves by Hanoi to disturb the normal drilling of a Chinese oil rig in the South China Sea.