China rushes to evacuate citizens from Vietnam(2)

Chinese citizens make phone calls to their families on the Chinese ship "Tongguling" in Vung Ang port of Vietnam's Ha Tinh Province, May 19, 2014. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

IMMEDIATE RESPONSE

"We were notified at midnight. We acted quickly but were still feeling great pressure as the clock was ticking," said Zhang Jie, deputy chief of Hainan Maritime Safety Administration which is involved in the evacuation effort.

Zhang said the maritime sector and shipping companies in Hainan province had entered a state of high alert after being notified of the evacuation mission.

"It was not easy to get the ships prepared for the voyage within just several hours," Zhang said, adding that, besides deploying ships and preparing paperwork, they needed to supply the ships with water, fuel and provisions.

Wuzhishan captain Li Mengmin told reporters that their preparation work started at 1:00 am Sunday (1700 GMT Saturday), and the crew members were well prepared by around 4:00 am (2000 GMT, Saturday), adding each of the ships had doctors, police officers and interpreters onboard in case of an emergency.

"As long as they (Chinese nationals in Vietnam) get on board, they don't have to worry about anything, including food, living materials and medical care," Li said.

"The government moved very quickly as the first ship had already set off from Haikou at 8:00 am (0000 GMT) after receiving orders in the very early hours of Sunday, and all the ships were on their way by 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) except for the back-up vessel," said Dong Manyuan, deputy director of China Institute of International Studies.

Dong said the government's almost immediate response showed it attached great importance to the safety of its citizens overseas, and a very effective emergency response plan was in place.

"We need to take every possible means to protect the legitimate rights of Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas," Dong said, adding efforts should be made to ensure overseas Chinese nationals could get consular protection or services wherever they are.

Other evacuation measures were already well under way before the ships left.

More than 290 Chinese nationals directly affected by the riots were flown home on two chartered planes Sunday. More than 100 of them were injured in the deadly violence.

Early Sunday morning, 16 critically injured Chinese nationals were evacuated from Vietnam aboard a chartered medical flight arranged by the Chinese government.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, more than 3,000 Chinese nationals had been evacuated from Vietnam as of Saturday.