Vietnam angry over maritime 'bullying' by China

Vietnamese authorities tolerated a second day of anti-China protests in the capital Hanoi yesterday as more than 100 people demonstrated against what they see as bullying behaviour by Beijing in an escalating row over maritime territory.

In a park in front of the Chinese embassy demonstrators waved flags, sang patriotic songs and chanted "Down with China!" and "The Spratlys and Paracels belong to Vietnam", referring to archipelagos in the South China Sea.

China and Vietnam have tussled in recent weeks over long-standing maritime disputes, though a military clash seems unlikely, the tensions could trouble regional diplomacy and possibly draw in the United States, which took up the South China Sea dispute last year.