Rare street protests in Vietnam over mysterious mass fish deaths
Public outrage is mounting over a possible toxic leak into the sea near an industrial zone where Taiwanese firm is located
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Vietnam on Sunday against a Taiwanese firm they accuse of causing mass fish deaths along the country’s central coast, with some also blaming the government for a sluggish response to a major environmental disaster.
Though an official investigation has found no links between the fish deaths and a $10.6 billion coastal steel plant run by a unit of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics, public anger against the company has not abated.
Hundreds gathered in Hanoi holding banners that said: “Formosa destroying the environment is a crime” and “Who poisoned the central region’s waters?”
Others said: “Formosa out of Vietnam!” and took aim at the government for being aloof in what it now describes as one of its worst environmental disasters.
Demonstrations are rare in Vietnam and uniformed and plain-clothes police are usually quick to suppress them. On Sunday they cleared traffic to allow demonstrators to do a lap of a big lake in the heart of Hanoi.