Vietnam Police Detain 20 from Anti-China protest; Comes Under Fire for Crushing Dissent

Vietnam police detained dozens of people Sunday morning after 150 people gathered in Hanoi to protests in response to the recent ramming of a Vietnamese trawler by Chinese navy vessels.

Police bundled the protesters, including a mother and her young child, onto buses after about 150 people gathered near one of Hanoi's most popular tourist attractions, Hoan Kiem Lake at around 8.30 in the morning. Protesters wore tee-shirts with a map of the Paracel and Spratly islands and waved posters saying “Shame on you China bully.”

One protester said the bus was on its way to Loc Ha detention center. Two Vietnamese journalists working for foreign media were also detained.

Vietnam police said the protest happened a week after Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Chinese boats of colliding with Vietnamese fishing vessels near the disputed Paracel Islands. China said the accusations were “totally untrue.” They claim that the Vietnamese fishing boat entered Chinese waters illegally. The tensions come out of a dispute over the uninhabited Paracel and Spratly islands. The islands are believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves. China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim territories in the South China Sea.

On Friday, Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday warned of damage to regional economies and global trade if "unilateral might, groundless claims" and "power politics" were to ignite a conflict in the South China Sea.

Vietnam has come under fire by the western for crushing freedom of speech and arresting dissidents as people protest land grabs, graft and the state's handling of the economy, which is wracked with debt.

Experts say the Vietnam’s ruling party crushes all protests because they are afraid they can grow into wider anti-government movements.

by Tony Sokol