Hanoi: China’s decision to move a rig into contested waters with Vietnam sparked the largest ever anti-China demonstrations in Hanoi yesterday.
The two countries are locked in long-standing territorial disputes in the South China Sea over the Paracel and Spratly islands, which both claim, and often trade diplomatic barbs over oil exploration and fishing rights in the contested waters.
Surging maritime tensions with China dominated a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders on Saturday.
The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is convening for the first time in Myanmar.
Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged his Asean counterparts to protest what he termed China's "serious violation" in the sea. [12/05/14]
