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After anti-Chinese violence erupted in Vietnam last week, the Chinese government has evacuated more than 3,000 Chinese citizens.
According to Xinhua News Agency on Sunday, China's official media outlet, five Chinese ships will sail to Vietnam to assist in the evacuation.
Last week, violence erupted when Vietnamese protesters set ablaze foreign factories owned by Chinese and Taiwanese companies. Rioters looted and burned the factories down after China decided to operate its oil rigs in the disputed South China Sea in which the two countries have territorial claims.
News reports stated that at least two Chinese citizens died in the protest, while more than 100 were injured. Xunhua said that 16 Chinese citizens were critically injured and were flown out of Vietnam via a chartered plane.
Protests in Vietnam are usually prohibited, but its government took an exception last week. However, the protest went out of hand, which resulted in violence and unrest.
The government tried to appease the protesters and sent a series of text messages to citizens urging them not to participate in the protest.
Beijing called on the Vietnamese government to control the riot and to protect Chinese citizens working in the country.
According to VNA, Vietnam's state-run news agency, the government has apprehended hundreds of people suspected of committing violence. It said that those arrested are being incarcerated for the violence they've committed.
But out in the disputed territorial waters was an entirely different story. Neither China nor Vietnam wants to back down.
The Vietnamese state media accused China's action as an aggressive show of military force. China continues to send military vessels around its the oil rig.
According to Vietnamese reports, China had sent a total of 119 ships, which include war vessels, fishing boats and coast guard ships.
China has done the same thing and accused Vietnam of disrupting its oil drilling operation. China now has the capacity to drill oil without help from external contractors.
For many years, China has been claiming the oil- and gas-rich waters of the South China Sea. It has antagonized its neighbors such as Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei.
