Beijing, May 19 (IANS): About 1000 Chinese nationals were evacuated Monday from riot-hit Vietnam in the first of four ships sent there by Beijing.
The passenger vessel, Wuzhishan, is expected to arrive at the southern Chinese port city of Haikou Tuesday morning, Xinhua reported.
A second ship, Tongguling, will dock at the central Vietnamese port to continue the evacuation mission.
Four Chinese ships, each with a capacity to accommodate about 1,000 passengers, have been sent to bring home some 4,000 Chinese nationals, and two others are on stand-by.
Some 135 wounded Chinese workers in the Ha Tinh province were flown back home aboard two chartered flights Sunday.
The Chinese government was working in collaboration with the Vietnamese authorities for the evacuation.
Anti-China violence erupted in Vietnam after Beijing made renewed territorial claims over the Paracel Islands, which Vietnam insists are part of its territory.