Apple (AAPL)’s key supplier Foxconn Technology Group has been forced to shut down its operations in Vietnam for three days after violent anti-China protests hit the nation, the company said in a statement on Friday.
The Vietnamese protesters are angry about China’s deployment of an oil rig into waters near the disputed Paracel Islands in South China Sea that both countries claim as sovereign territory.
Anti-China protests have led to vandalism, factory shut-downs and 21 deaths across Vietnam. Police officials said that hundreds of Chinese natives working in Vietnam have fled the country, fearing that the unrest may turn even more deadly.
Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer best known for producing Apple iPhones and iPads, confirmed that it would shut operations for the next three days, starting from Saturday.
“Foxconn has taken measures to ensure the safety of our employees following recent developments in Vietnam,” the company said in a statement.
Violence already forced manufacturers like Yue Yuen, the world’s biggest sports shoe maker that supplies Nike (NKE) and Adidas, as well as Walmart (WMT), to temporarily halt productions. And now, as a precautionary measure, Foxconn has done the same, according to the Financial Times.
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