(BGF) – Vietnam government once were unfavored public gathering for fear they could attract anti-government protesters. However, it allowed several hundred demonstrators to stage a noisy rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi on Sunday May 11 against Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig in the contested South China Sea. Chris Brummitt in the Associated Press reported this.
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Vietnam allows anti-China protest over oil rig
May 11, 2014 By Chris Brummitt
(Photo Credit: the Associated Press)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam allowed several hundred demonstrators to stage a noisy rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi on Sunday against Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig in the contested South China Sea that has triggered a tense standoff and raised fears of confrontation.
The country’s authoritarian leaders keep a very tight grip on public gatherings for fear they could attract anti-government protesters.
This time, they appeared to give in to public anger that also provided them with the opportunity to register their own indignation at Beijing.
Other protests, including one drawing more than 1,000 people in Ho Chi Minh City, took place in other locations around the country. For the first time, they were reported on enthusiastically by the state media.
The government has in the past forcibly broken up anti-China protests and arrested their leaders, many of whom are also campaigning for greater political freedoms and human rights.
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