11:00 a.m.: A carvan of Vietnamese-Americans from Orange County drove overnight to join the protests today.
The tired bunch arrived at about 4 a.m. in a chartered van, but by 10:30 they enthausitically joined the throngs - supporting China or denouncing the country’s treatment of Tibetians, Burmese or policies in Darfur - lining the Embarcadero.
The Orange County group came, according to 26-year-old Tue-Anh Cao, not only to lend their voices to others denouncing Chinese policy, but to lodge their own complaint with China’s claim over the Spratly Islands. The islands in the South China Sea number about 100, made up of rocks and reefs. Many countries claim the chain as their terrority in order to also claim rights to fishing and minerals there.
“Our government in Vietnam isn’t doing anything about it,” Cao said. In the United States, he said, he and his friends were able to speak their displeasure.
As the group made its way down the road they carried the yellow and red flags of the former South Vietnam.