Illegal Chinese workers flood Vietnam’s economic zone Chinese workers in Vung An economic zone.Tuoi Tre The number of Chinese working illegally at construction sites in Vung An Economic Zone based in the central Ha Tinh province has been rising steadily.  Figures released by Deo Ngang border station show 1,526 Chinese nationals among 2,600 foreign workers working there in late Sept and early Oct but the economic zone’s management board said only 1,100 foreigners have been granted working permits. Chinese-owned construction companies have won bids to build several projects in Vung An and they awarded their construction contracts to Chinese workers. Every afternoon, a large number of Chinese workers are seen gathering at a bus station in Ky Phuong commune, Ky Anh district. Four to five buses are needed to take all of them to Formosa construction site in Vung An. Major Nguyen Van Dang, deputy head of Deo Ngang border station, said they have handled a lot of cases involving foreigners since early this year. Some didn’t have temporary residence cards, some were involved in robbery cases or scuffles, and some went on strike, Dang added. According to the officer, on April 28, Jiang Su, a Chinese national, was caught red-handed stealing iron and steel bars at Formosa construction site. Also that month, there was a scuffle between local people and foreigners in Ky Anh, resulting in the death of a Taiwanese worker. And recently, 44 Chinese workers at Formosa were on strike and even prevented other workers from working. In late September, authorities in Ha Tinh inspected labor forces hired by some foreign contractors and enterprises in Vung An and found 570 Chinese nationals working there without the proper paperwork, 128 of whom were later deported. Local authorities said it was difficult to manage the foreign workers at the economic zone and even played the blame game. “There are many unskilled foreign workers here. They arrive here on a tourist visa. We are authorized to grant them working permits and the Department of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs should be responsible for supervising and managing them” – Ho An Tuan, head of the management of Vung An Economic Zone. Meanwhile, Le Tien Dung, deputy head of Ha Tinh’s Department of Labor Invalids and Social Affairs blames Vung An’s management board for the ill management of illegal foreign workers.  “In recent times, we have found a lot of foreign workers working in Vung An Economic Zone without a working permit. They [Vung An’s management board] should take responsibility for that” – Dung stressed.  TUOI TRE