Chinese tourist ‘attacked after refusing to tip Vietnamese officials’
Chinese foreign ministry asks Vietnamese counterparts to investigate the matter but report says Vietnamese authorities deny attack
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is paying close attention to an incident in which Chinese tourists in Vietnam accused the country’s customs officials of beating up one of them after he refused to tip them.
According to the ministry’s statement released on Saturday evening, a Chinese citizen surnamed Xie sustained serious injuries from being beaten by Vietnamese officials when he was crossing the border to return to China last Tuesday.
“The Chinese embassy in Vietnam and the foreign ministry’s consular affairs department have both made solemn representation to Vietnamese foreign ministry and its embassy in China, expressed serious concern to the incident and strong condemnation against violence by Vietnamese officials,” the statement said.
“The culprits should be punished severely. They should apologise to the victim and compensate for his losses,” the statement said, adding that the ministry had requested the Vietnamese authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident and in a timely manner.
