--- title: Vietnamese Protesters Torch Factories in Anti-China Unrest description: Demonstrators set fire to 15 Taiwan-, South Korean– and other foreign-owned factories in Vietnam, mistaking them for Chinese enterprises canonical: https://time.com/98667/vietnam-factories-arson-china-protest/ author: Emily Rauhala article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-14T08:15:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:49:22.554Z article:section: World og:title: Vietnamese Protesters Torch Factories in Anti-China Unrest og:description: Demonstrators set fire to 15 Taiwan-, South Korean– and other foreign-owned factories in Vietnam, mistaking them for Chinese enterprises og:url: https://time.com/98667/vietnam-factories-arson-china-protest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vietnamese Protesters Torch Factories in Anti-China Unrest twitter:description: Demonstrators set fire to 15 Taiwan-, South Korean– and other foreign-owned factories in Vietnam, mistaking them for Chinese enterprises twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Vietnamese Protesters Torch Factories in Anti-China Unrest by [Emily Rauhala / Beijing](/author/emily-rauhala/) ## Emily Rauhala / Beijing May 14, 2014 8:15 AM CUT by [Emily Rauhala / Beijing](/author/emily-rauhala/) ## Emily Rauhala / Beijing May 14, 2014 8:15 AM CUT If you are going to [torch a factory](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/vietnamese-workers-protest-chinese-factories-23691664 "undefined") in a fit of nationalism, make sure you get the right factory. That’s the lesson for thousands of Vietnamese who swarmed a Singapore-run industrial park in southern Vietnam late Tuesday. The demonstrators turned arsonists set fire to 15 foreign-owned factories, [reports](http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/vietnamese-workers-protest-chinese-factories "undefined") the Associated Press, including some that were Taiwan- or South Korean–owned. Many other businesses were trashed. The rioting followed largely peaceful protests by some 20,000 Vietnamese in Binh Duong province late Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, people on motorcycles rode through the area carrying Vietnamese flags, AP noted. One witness said foreign-owned enterprises were now hanging up pro-Vietnamese banners. “We love Vietnam,” read one. It is still unclear if anybody was hurt in the melee, but the injuries to business could be steep: the chairwoman of the Council of Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam [told](http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/14/taiwan-vietnam-idINT8N0N300F20140514 "undefined") Reuters the cost to Taiwan companies would be billions of dollars. For the rest of us, the incident serves as a reminder of just how quickly a Sino-Vietnamese spat can escalate. Tuesday night’s riot started as a demonstration against China’s May 1 deployment of a massive oil rig in waters claimed by both sides. Over the past few days, there have been [several skirmishes](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/world/asia/china-and-vietnam-at-impasse-over-drilling-rig-in-south-china-sea.html "undefined") between ships from both sides, and [protests](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/world/asia/china-and-vietnam-at-impasse-over-drilling-rig-in-south-china-sea.html "undefined") across the Vietnam. On Sunday, Vietnam’s Prime Minister [accused](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303851804579555064255482796 "undefined") China of “brazenly” triggering the dispute. But strong words will not be enough to dissuade Beijing. The current maritime standoff is not just about the oil rig, but unresolved territorial claims in the South China Sea. Otherwise solid ties between China and Vietnam have, for the most part, kept conflict at bay. That Vietnam’s otherwise restrictive ruling party is letting people protest shows a new willingness to speak up. But the torching of foreign-owned factories was certainly not the outcome they hoped for. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/98667/vietnam-factories-arson-china-protest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/98667/vietnam-factories-arson-china-protest/"},"headline":"Vietnamese Protesters Torch Factories in Anti-China Unrest","datePublished":"2014-05-14T08:15:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:49:22.554Z","description":"In a sign of growing anti-Beijing sentiment, Vietnamese demonstrators set fire to 15 Taiwan-, South Korean– and other foreign-owned factories because they mistook them for Chinese enterprises","url":"https://time.com/98667/vietnam-factories-arson-china-protest/","keywords":["Vietnam","China","South China Sea"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Rauhala / Beijing"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/98667/vietnam-factories-arson-china-protest/","name":"Vietnamese Protesters Torch Factories in Anti-China Unrest"}}]}] ```