Two Taiwanese nationals were killed in a frenzy of anti-China protests throughout Vietnam that also saw at least a dozen factories set afire.

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Hundreds of Chinese have fled in panic to neighboring Cambodia while at least a hundred were injured in the riots.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung, has described the situation as serious.

Anti-China protests by Vietnamese have spread to 22 of Vietnam's 63 provinces, the government said.

Authorities called for tough measures to restore order before anxious foreign investors begin abandoning Vietnam.

Mob attacks, however, were directed against Taiwanese companies, causing more foreign-owned factories to shut down in a wave of violence that could escalate further.

Furious Vietnamese were apparently focusing their anger against all Chinese and not specifically against mainland China who were the target of the original and peaceful protests that began late last week.

Media reports said at least 90 Taiwanese were injured when Vietnamese staff at the Formosa Plastics Group in the Vung Ang district of Ha Tinh city in northern Vietnam looted a steel mill. One Chinese, apparently a Taiwanese, died of heat stroke.

A Taiwanese technician at Taiwan's DDK Group died after one of the company's plants located 30 kilometers north of southern Ho Chi Minh City was set ablaze, the company said.

A Taiwanese employee of DDK was hospitalized but was reported in stable condition after the violent attack.

Other mob attacks hit foreign factories in the southern province of Binh Duong. The Ministry of Public Security later increased police presence in the province and detained almost 500 persons for questioning over property damage in Binh Duong

Some 130 persons, including some Chinese, were hospitalized in Ha Tinh following the riot in the Vung Ang area. The riot was caused by a fight between two groups of workers, said the police.

The sudden surge in violence forced Taiwan, China and Singapore to urge for Vietnam to protect their citizens.

Prime Minister Dung responded by issuing an order to the police asking for the violence to be brought under control.

Dung ordered provincial governments and security forces to mount quick actions to stop the violence.

Vietnamese anger against China was first manifested in noisy street protests against a Chinese oil rig exploring for oil in disputed waters near the Paracel Islands, which is claimed by both Vietnam and China.

The government allowed peaceful demonstrations against the rig to be held in major cities starting last weekend.

These protests, however, evolved into attacks on businesses such as those from Taiwan that have no direct links to China.

The sudden outbreak of violence endangers the foreign direct investments that are fueling Vietnam's rapid economic growth and Vietnam's standing as a low-cost manufacturer of goods.

China earlier said the Vietnamese government is to blame for the violence.

"What happened in recent days targeting Chinese businesses and personnel--the vandalism, smashing, looting and burning--are directly related to the Vietnamese government's indulgence and connivance toward domestic anti-China forces and criminals," said China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.