Up to 300 people shouting “Down with China” marched to the Chinese embassy in Vietnam yesterday to protest against what they see as Chinese violations of Vietnam’s sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea.
Tension between Vietnam and China has been on the rise since last month when Hanoi said Chinese patrol boats harassed a Vietnamese oil-exploration ship conducting a seismic survey 120km off Vietnam’s south-central coast.
The two countries, which fought a brief but intense war on their land border in 1979, have exchanged accusations and re-staked long-standing claims of sovereignty over maritime territory that covers important shipping routes and is thought to hold large, untapped oil and gas reserves.
Public protests are rare in Vietnam, but as well as the procession of banner-waving people in the capital, images posted online showed about 1,000 people marching in what appeared to be a similar protest in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s commercial hub.
There had been calls online and via text message for people in the southern city to demonstrate at the Chinese consulate.
The demonstrators in Hanoi sang patriotic songs and chanted slogans including “The Paracels and Spratlys belong to Vietnam,” referring to two largely uninhabited archipelagos claimed by both countries.
Two people carried a Chinese flag emblazoned with a pirate’s skull and crossbones.
The protests were the first of their kind since December 2007 when widespread anger about China’s growing assertiveness over its claims to the Paracels and Spratlys drew hundreds of people out in Hanoi.
Maritime disputes are a sensitive topic for the Vietnamese government, which tries to strike a balance between appeasing a populace that is deeply suspicious of China and keeping relations with its giant neighbor from souring.
Hanoi police watched the peaceful protest and after a while led the demonstrators away from a park in front of the Chinese embassy.
The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim territories in the South China Sea, but China’s claim is by far the largest, forming a vast U-shape over most of the sea’s 1.7 million square kilometers.
The latest tension comes as defense ministers from around the region met in Singapore for an annual security dialogue.
Chinese Minister of National Defense Liang Guanglie (梁光烈) told his Vietnamese counterpart Phung Quang Thanh at the conference on Saturday that their countries should resolve their disputes peacefully.
Vietnam had said it would use its navy to enforce its territorial integrity.
Speaking at the conference yesterday, Liang said that China has been working through ASEAN to negotiate sea disputes in the region.
“China is committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea,’’ he said. “At present, the general situation in the South China Sea remains stable.’’
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was