Vietnam protesters attack China over sea dispute

 
In the capital, Hanoi, demonstrators sang patriotic songs and held up placards opposite the Chinese embassy.Tensions have been running high after Vietnamese ships clashed with Chinese vessels guarding an oil rig in a contested area of the South China Sea.The protests appear to have the Vietnamese government's approval.The country's communist authorities have broken up previous anti-China demonstrations because of fears that they may be hijacked by pro-democracy activists, says the BBC's Asia Pacific editor, Charles Scanlon.Nevertheless, he says, Hanoi has also used the demonstrations to communicate its anger over what it sees as Beijing's aggressive infringement of Vietnamese sovereignty.

The BBC's Charles Scanlon says Vietnam's authorities rarely allow such rallies, so they are a sign of the extent of the country's angerThe protesters opposite the Chinese embassy on Sunday included war veterans and students."This is the largest anti-Chinese demonstration I have ever seen in Hanoi," a war veteran named Dang Quang Thang told the AFP news agency."Our patience has limits. We are here to express the will of the Vietnamese people to defend our territory at all costs. We are ready to die to protect our nation," he is quoted as saying.

Large anti-China protests were also seen in other Vietnamese cities.