Week 3-Vietnam anti-China riot

Taiwanese firms’ losses in Vietnam riots up to US$5b

By Shih Hsiu-chuan  /  Staff reporter

Wed, May 28, 2014

The losses sustained by hundreds of Taiwan-invested firms during recent anti-China protest in Vietnam is estimated at between US$1.5 billion and US$5 billion, the Executive Yuan was told yesterday.

Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) yesterday briefed a task force led by Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) about a fact-finding trip he undertook to Vietnam last week.

The trip was to assess the damages caused to properties owned by Taiwanese investors when Vietnamese staged protests on May 13 and 14 against China because of its deployment of an oil rig near the disputed Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) in the South China Sea.

The latest statistics provided by Shen was that 358 Taiwan-operated factories were attacked by Vietnamese during the protests and 21 firms were set on fire.

During their visit in Vietnam, Shen visited several Taiwanese chambers of commerce and sat down with Vietnamese officials to raise compensation issues, including with Vietnamese Planning and Investment Minister Bui Quang Vinh.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) reiterated the demands that Taiwan has made to Vietnam over the attack against Taiwanese facilities at a meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang on Monday, the ministry’s spokesperson, Anna Kao (高安), said yesterday.

Lin urged the Vietnamese government to come up with concrete measures to ensure the safety of Taiwanese businessmen and expatriates in the country, compensate Taiwanese businessmen for their losses and restore Taiwanese businessmen’s confidence in investing in Vietnam, Kao said.

Separately, the second delegation of psychologists and psychiatrists organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare departed for Vietnam yesterday to provide counseling and psychotherapy to help Taiwanese businesspeople and expatriates recover from possible trauma, Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said yesterday.

 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/05/28/2003591423

 Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-the Executive Yuan

   WHEN-yesterday

   WHAT-The losses is estimated at between US$1.5 billion and US$5 billion

   WHY-hundreds of Taiwan-invested firms during recent anti-China protest in Vietnam

   WHERE-Vietnam 

   HOW-not given

Keywords：

   1. loss：損失

   2. protest ：異議

   3. estimate：估計

   4. assess ：對...進行估價

   5. investor：投資者

   6. oil rig：石油鑽塔

   7. firm：公司

   8. reiterate：重申

   9.restore：恢復

 10. counseling ：諮詢服務