In early April 2016, something mysterious happened: dead fish began washing up on the beaches of Vietnam’s Hà Tĩnh province. Not just a few – literal tons. And then dead fish began appearing elsewhere, all along Vietnam’s four central provinces. 

This was an environmental crisis – but it was also an economic catastrophe. Citizens across the country stopped eating fish amid reports of poisonings and even deaths. The seafood industry was decimated. Hundreds of thousands of families who relied on the ocean for their livelihood were suddenly without income. 

Vietnam’s prime minister called it “the most serious environmental disaster Vietnam has ever faced.”

The country was gripped by a single, burning question: what was killing the ocean?

It didn’t take long to find the answer: a Taiwanese company was pumping waste directly into the ocean. Local fishermen discovered an underwater discharge pipe, allowing a local steel plant operated by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp to dump waste into the ocean – all without notifying the public or the authorities. 

At first, Formosa strenuously denied any link to the unfolding environmental disaster – and the Vietnamese government sided with the foreign firm. But eventually, faced with the mounting damage and growing public outcry, they changed their tune. Formosa Ha Tinh Steel was officially declared to be responsible for the incident.

The offending company is an offshoot of a major multinational corporation: Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan’s largest industrial firm. The company, in theory, has plenty of money to compensate the victims of its toxic waste, from those who suffered health impacts to fishermen who lost their livelihoods. 

But 10 years later, few Vietnamese have gotten any compensation at all. 

It’s bad enough that Formosa considers the issue closed, but the Vietnamese government has effectively sided with a foreign corporation – and arrested those who dared to protest. While Vietnam’s own government abandoned the fight, a diverse group of activists are pursuing legal options – abroad, where the Communist Party of Vietnam can’t shut them down.

Today on The Diplomat Asia, we’re looking at a true crime story where the culprit is clear, but justice has proven elusive. Stay tuned to learn about the worst environmental crisis to ever hit Vietnam, how the damage is still being felt today – and the people fighting for justice on behalf of the victims, a decade later.