DHAKA: China has evacuated more than 3,000 of its nationals from Vietnam after a wave of anti-China unrest following Beijing's deployment of an oil rig in contested waters.

The announcement on Sunday came after Vietnamese civil society groups on Saturday called for fresh demonstrations against China following riots earlier in the week which left two Chinese workers dead and more than 100 injured.

Vietnamese authorities followed up a warning they would "resolutely" prevent any further outbursts by breaking up small protests in two cities later on Sunday. 

China, meanwhile, had sent the first of five ships to speed up the evacuation of its citizens. 

The Chinese government is also arranging for a chartered plane and vessel to evacuate the staff of China 19th Metallurgical Corporation, a contractor of one of the plants badly hit by the recent violence, Xinhua added.

Beijing's positioning of an oil rig in waters also claimed by Vietnam in the South China Sea has ignited long-simmering enmity between the two neighbours, which have fought territorial skirmishes in past decades.

Source: Al-Jazeera

BDST: 1442 HRS, MAY 18, 2014