The Vietnamese came to Hainan in 1986 by accident. They had set out as refugees onboard fishing vessels bound for Hong Kong, but they only managed to reach Hainan Island. Hong Kong, which at one point housed almost 100,000 Vietnamese refugees, offered escapees the chance for repatriation to Western nations. Not all of the refugees who made it to safety in Hong Kong, however, as those individuals came by sea from Vietnam. Many crossed the border into China, traveled by train to Guangdong Province, changed their appearance to look as if they had endured great hardship at sea, and then boarded vessels to take them the few miles into Hong Kong waters.

The official classification of the Vietnamese people is a problematic one. They have not been included under the Jing nationality, although the Jing are fellow Vietnamese who have earned official status as one of China's 55 minority groups. This profile refers only to ethnic Vietnamese in China and not to the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese who have fled from Vietnam to China since the late 1970s. As one commentator explains, "During outbreaks of racial hostility in Vietnam in 1978, thousands of Vietnamese of Chinese descent fled in confusion to their home country which they had left many years, sometimes generations, earlier. ... About 100,000 went to Guangxi, and another 110,000 settled elsewhere in China." Because those refugees are ethnic Han Chinese, they have easily assimilated back into China. "Since these refugees can no longer return to Vietnam, the aim of the Chinese government is to repatriate them as Chinese citizens. The teaching medium in schools is therefore Chinese. After several years of hard work, the residents are now no different from other Chinese." The Vietnamese profiled here, however, are ethnic Vietnamese who speak the Vietnamese language. Their official classification is uncertain.

Because of the exorbitant amount of money charged by the owners of the fishing vessels, most of the refugees came from wealthy families in northern Vietnam. They were willing to give up all they had in the hope of gaining entry to the United States or another Western nation.

Most Vietnamese on Hainan Island are nonreligious, although there are some who follow Daoism, Buddhism, or Catholicism.

Few Vietnamese refugees on Hainan claim to be Christians. Because they originated in northern Vietnam where there are few churches, most have little awareness of the gospel.

There are some Christians among the Vietnamese in China. They need to become Christ bearers to others.

Pray for workers who are driven by the love of the Holy Spirit to go to the Vietnamese and boldly proclaim the truths of the gospel.
Pray for an unstoppable movement of Christ to arise among the people, so that the Vietnamese choose Jesus as Savior and Lord.
Pray for signs and wonders to happen among them and for great breakthroughs with a rapid multiplication of disciples and house churches.

Scripture Prayers for the Jing, Vietnamese in China.

Operation China, Asia Harvest, Copyrighted © Used with permission.