Monday, July 9, 2012

Anti-Chinese protests in Vietnam as South China Sea tensions rise

More than any time before the Chinese hegimonist expensonism has been strongly denounced these days by not only the Philipino and Vietnamese but also by internatinal opinion.

The Telegragh July9,2012: The Vietnamese government has allowed a rare public demonstration to go ahead, a sign of Hanoi's increasing anger with its neighbour's aggressive stance in the South China Sea.


Protesters chant anti-China slogans while standing at a war martyrs monument during an anti-China protest in Hanoi. Photo: REUTERS
Around 200 protesters marched through the centre of Hanoi on Sunday waving banners and chanting "Paracels -Vietnam, Spratlys-Vietnam".
Although security forces blocked the demonstration when it came within 300 feet of the Chinese embassy, the fact that the protest was allowed to go ahead in authoritarian Vietnam indicates how relations between Hanoi and Beijing have deteriorated dramatically in recent weeks.
Last month, Hanoi passed legislation designating both the Paracels and Spratlys as part of Vietnam. Beijing responded by allowing the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation to call for bids to explore for oil in the disputed waters, a decision which prompted a smaller anti-China rally in Hanoi last Sunday.
China claims much of the oil and natural gas-rich South China Sea as its own, and is now involved in territorial disputes over the waters with a number of its neighbours in southeast Asia. Beijing's efforts to assert its dominance over the South China Sea is believed to be behind Washington's decision to move 60 per cent of its navy to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020.

The Bangkok Post July9,2012: Vietnamese activists hold anti-China rally

More than 200 protesters took to Hanoi's streets on Sunday in the second anti-China rally in the Vietnamese capital this month amid heightened territorial tensions over the South China Sea.
Vietnamese protesters hold up posters while shouting anti-China slogans in front of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi. Hundreds of people staged the anti-China protest, the second one in a week, after the China National Offshore Oil Corporation announced last month that nine offshore blocks were available for exploration, and said it was seeking bids from foreign companies.
Demonstrators said they were stopped by security forces about 100 metres (330 feet) away from the Chinese embassy in the city, but no arrests were made in the latest public expression of discontent over Beijing's perceived aggression in the sea.
The crowd waved banners and chanted "Paracel -- Vietnam! Spratlys -- Vietnam!" during the peaceful rally, in reference to two potentially oil-rich island chains claimed by both Beijing and Hanoi.
Last Sunday, smaller demonstrations were held in both Hanoi and the southern economic metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City as the maritime dispute once again flared following 11 street rallies on the issue last year.
Protest is rare in the authoritarian country. The first rallies last year were allowed to go ahead without interference, but authorities clamped down on later gatherings, briefly detaining dozens of people after talks between Hanoi and Beijing.
Relations between Beijing and Hanoi have soured recently, with Vietnam attracting China's ire last month after it adopted a law that places the Spratlys under Hanoi's sovereignty.
For its part China in June said it had elevated the administrative status of what it calls the Nansha (Spratly) and Xisha (Paracel) islands from a county to a prefectural-level district.
China's state-backed China National Offshore Oil Corp. also said it was seeking bids for exploration of oil blocks in disputed waters -- a move slammed by Vietnam.
Beijing says it has sovereign rights to the whole South China Sea, believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits. The sea is also claimed in whole or part by Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

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