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
2:49PM BST 08 Jul 2012
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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.
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.
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. 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.
