Vietnam Says U.S. Official Punched Bystander, Made ‘Disturbance’

Vietnam’s state-run media said an American diplomat created a "public disturbance" and punched a bystander in the face this week, escalating a diplomatic dispute after the U.S. protested his treatment.

U.S. Embassy Officer Christian Marchant yelled obscenities in English and Vietnamese Jan. 5 after local authorities approached him in the central city of Hue, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported today. Marchant was in Hue to visit a dissident Catholic priest, the American embassy said.