More than 1,600 Chinese nationals crossed into Cambodia from Vietnam last week as riots there left up to 21 people dead as mobs reacted violently to China’s deployment of an oil rig in a Vietnamese-claimed area of the South China Sea, an immigration official said.
On Wednesday, 640 people crossed into Cambodia as anti-Chinese mobs torched Chinese-owned factories and businesses across the country, with numbers rising throughout the week.
But following the Vietnamese government’s vow on Saturday to suppress any further unrest, cross-border traffic had returned to normal Sunday, said Mam Yoy, deputy chief of immigration police at the Bavet checkpoint in Svay Rieng province.
“Last week, there was a lot of Chinese citizens crossing but today, only about 40 crossed the border at Bavet International Checkpoint, which is normal,” he said.
Also on Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry warned its citizens against traveling to Vietnam until the situation had improved.
Mr. Yoy said that as of Sunday, only 80 of the more than 1,600 Chinese citizens who fled to Cambodia had returned to Vietnam through the checkpoint.
