Vietnam Protesters Seek Answers Over Mass Fish Deaths [Wall Street Journal]

By [COLOR="#0000FF"]Vu Trong Khanh[/COLOR]
[I]May 1, 2016 3:43 a.m. ET[/I]

[QUOTE][B][COLOR="#808080"]Rare public protest targets Taiwanese conglomerate after tons of fish washed ashore in four provinces[/COLOR][/B]

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[COLOR="#800080"] Protesters march in Hanoi on Sunday after a series of fish deaths along Vietnam’s coast. [/COLOR][COLOR="#000080"]Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images [/COLOR]

HANOI—Hundreds of people marched peacefully in the streets of Vietnam’s capital Sunday over environmental pollution after mysterious mass fish deaths along the nation’s central coast.

In a rare public protest in the communist country, demonstrators held banners urging a clean marine environment and government transparency and demanding the government publicize the identity of the polluter and extract compensation for the damage.

Demonstrations also took place in Ho Chi Minh City and elsewhere, according to social media. There were no immediate reports of clashes with police.

State media have reported many tons of dead fish have washed ashore along the coast of four central provinces over the past month.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a statement Friday that the loss of fish had a serious impact on local people and urged authorities to quickly find the cause. “This is an unprecedented, widespread and complicated environment incident in the country, and the authorities haven’t been able to identify the cause, leading to anger in society,” the statement said.

The protesters blamed a steel unit of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group in Ha Tinh province for the fish deaths, following reports in state media that the complex had been discharging wastewater through a large undersea pipeline.

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[COLOR="#800080"] A protester calls for the protection of Vietnam’s environment during Sunday’s rally in Hanoi, in which many marchers blamed a unit of Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Group for the fish deaths. [/COLOR][COLOR="#000080"]Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images[/COLOR]

No one at the steel unit, Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Co., Ltd., was available for comment Sunday. The unit’s deputy general director, Zhang Funing, told a press briefing last week that the plant has a new wastewater processing system in operation that has cost $45 million, state media reported.

“Vietnamese government agencies are investigating whether the mass dying of fish and Formosa’s discharging wastewater have anything to do with each other, and we have to wait for the results,” Mr. Zhang was quoted as saying by Vietnam Investment Review newspaper.

Formosa’s complex in Ha Tinh is among the largest foreign-investment projects in the country. Vietnam has been an attractive destination for foreign investors lured by low-cost labor and several free-trade agreements.

Nguyen Quang A, a prominent local activist, said the protesters want authorities to exercise care in approving heavy industrial projects, fearing that “Vietnam can easily become a dumping site for foreign companies.”
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Write to [COLOR="#0000FF"]Vu Trong Khanh[/COLOR] at [email]Trong-Khanh.Vu@dowjones.com[/email]