Protests of China's island moves not allowed: [Vietnam] gov’t spokesman

Vietnam News Agency ^ | December 11, 2007

[charles m]

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung

Protests in front of Chinese diplomatic buildings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Sunday were unapproved by local governments, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung.

The demonstrations in front of the Chinese Embassy in the capital and the General Consulate in HCMC Sunday were spontaneous acts, according to Dung.

The spokesman also said that local taskforces had explained to the protesters that their assemblies were not allowed and persuaded them to halt the demonstrations.

Last week Vietnam had reasserted its sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos in the East Sea in response to the Chinese government’s approval of a plan to set up the district-level administrative city of Sansha to manage three islands included in the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa territories.

[charles m]

China last week created an administrative region called Sansha to manage the three archipelagos in the South China Sea, including the Paracels and the Spratlys.

[Jeff Head]

I believe China has militarized some of the islands as well, setting up bases and fortifying them.

With the PLAN's significant naval growth, the Vietnamese will be hard pressed to dislodge them militarily.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Are there oil or gas deposits on or around these islands?

[truemiester]

China claims the Pacific.

[denydenydeny]

“The People’s Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”

[Joe Boucher]

Of course there are.
The chi-coms seem to be taking for themselves what they want.
Screw everyone else.

[Brad from Tennessee]

I never thought I’d see it but the Vietnamese may soon be asking us to reoccupy Cam Ranh Bay. After mainland China went Red and the French left Indochina the rationale for trying to keep South Vietnam inside the Western sphere was Chinese expansionism.