New Hanoi anti-China rally tests tolerance of protests

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/08/07/uk-vietnam-protests-idUKTRE7760O420110807

(Reuters) - Anti-China demonstrators staged another in a series of weekly marches in central Hanoi on Sunday, testing authorities' tolerance of protests on an emotive issue in Vietnamese society.

Up to 200 people singing patriotic songs, carrying banners and flags and chanting slogans drew stares from bemused tourists and honks of approval from motorists as they filed around Hoan Kiem Lake.

How much longer protesters will be allowed to hold rallies on a sensitive issue - accusations that China violates Vietnam's sovereignty in the South China Sea - is unclear.

Demonstrations are rare and normally snuffed out swiftly in Vietnam. Similar anti-China protests in Ho Chi Minh City, which drew more than 1,000 people, were shut down by police in June.


***slide show @ link.

we always hope nothing drastic comes of it.