Anti-China protest continues inside Hanoi, Sunday June 12th 2011

HANOI (AP) -- Hundreds of Vietnamese staged an anti-China protest Sunday for the second week in a row, a day ahead of the country's planned live ammunition naval drill amid a heated spat over territory in the South China Sea.
Waving Vietnamese flags and signs reading "Stop Violating Vietnam's Territory," a couple hundred demonstrators moved from the Chinese Embassy through the capital's streets surrounded by dozens of police and security forces. Hundreds more also protested in southern Ho Chi Minh City.
Protests are rare in Communist-run Vietnam and are typically quashed quickly by police.
Hanoi has responded feverishly following two incidents in the past month in which it accuses Chinese boats of halting Vietnamese hired vessels from conducting oil and gas exploration in waters off its central coast.
Vietnam says the incidents occurred within 200 nautical miles of its shores, within the economic exclusion area guaranteed by international law. It accuses Chinese boats of cutting cables used to conduct seismic surveys on vessels hired by state-run PetroVietnam.
But China responded harshly last week saying the latest clash occurred near the disputed Spratly islands, claimed by both countries along with several other Asian nations. It says the Vietnamese hired boat endangered Chinese fishermen's lives.
Vietnam's military exercise is expected to total nine hours Monday off the country's central coast. Boats have been warned to stay out of the area during the drill, which appears to be an apparent response to the flare-up. It was the first time Vietnam has issued such an alert about maritime exercises.
A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party ran an editorial Saturday warning Vietnam not provoke its much larger northern neighbor.
"If Vietnam insists on making trouble, thinking that the more trouble it makes, the more benefits it gains, then we truly wish to remind those in Vietnam who determine policy to please read your history," the editorial concluded. China once ruled over Vietnam for 1,000 years.
Vietnam and China have a long history of maritime scraps in disputed parts of the South China Sea near the Spratly and Paracel islands, which are teeming with fish and believed rich in oil and gas reserves.
The United States, which has said the South China Sea is in its national interest because of key international shipping lanes, has encouraged a diplomatic process to keep regional tensions from flaring.

[@ottovonstierlitz]

About five hundreds Vietnamese, at the height of demonstration crowd, participated in a protest in the capital city of Hanoi as response to the second incident took place just three days earlier. Some large surveillance ship of China is allegedly believed to have committed the clash inside Vietnam's territorial water in early morning of June 9th. Outdoor protest which is something rarely happened in that country would spell out a new chapter of Viet-Sino relation resulted in increasing conflict.

[@CuongVietPham]

NO DOGS AND CHINESE ARE ALLOWED is a banner in front of every parks in China 50 years ago and now u can see it everywhere in Vietnam.

[@ramiemoi]

go vietnam! i'm from the Philippines and I'm a Filipino.. we will support vietnam..we Filipinos love vietnamese coz we know vietnamese are good people.. we Filipinos and vietnamese are true neighbor and we will unite to fight aganist china.. USA will help us Filipinos and vietnamese..we will join our forces to fight against china..

[@xPanzerschreck]

I support Vietnam,from Malaysia!!

[@Martian150]

Vietnamese and Filipinos should stop encroaching on thousand-year-old Chinese territory in the South China Sea. Source: Wikipedia article on Paracel Islands with primary sources listed in footnotes "The coast belonged to the Kingdom of Cauchi China." "China 618~1279 * There are some Chinese cultural relics in the Paracel islands dating from the Tang and Song dynasty eras[12][note 1], and there is some evidence of Chinese habitation on the islands in these periods.[13]."

[@Martian150]

"Article 15 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that the delineation rule for overlapping territorial sea claims does not apply to areas of historical title." [Luke's post] From UN website on Article 15: "The above provision does not apply, however, where it is necessary by reason of historic title or other special circumstances to delimit the territorial seas of the two States in a way which is at variance therewith."

[@jackgoodnight2]

What a joke now haha. Chilean support China🇨🇱🇨🇳

[@jrob1130]

We support Vietnam.

[@bg24955]

two vietnamese girls are cute. wait, i am here to protest against viet on behave of china. i got carried away. one with glass is cuter. see i got carried away.

[@MrBobthornton]

I have a better idea, let all the contesting nations sit down and consider forming a joint venture oil company for the purpose of harvesting Spratley Island oil reserves.

[@Criminal110s]

他说"摸奶" 哈哈哈哈哈

[@AsukaVerduijn]

@ramiemoi i love the Philippines there are loads of kind people there my teacher is a Filipino and she is very kind

[@forrestsun]

Indian reporter??? lol

[@thexzibits1]

spratly island will always belong to FILIPINO..

[@ywintube]

山雨欲来风满楼，锋火来时洒脱乎？

[@ottovonstierlitz]

@XShynobiX ^_^ just random