By Yan Hao, Xinhua
Saigon — On the day when nationwide anti-China protests had been expected to burst in Vietnam, local residents spent just another quiet weekend as usual but under tightened security both on the streets and on the Internet.
Policemen ask people to leave a street near to the Chinese embassy in Hanoi on May 18, 2014. A call for further anti-China protests appeared to have fizzled in the capital, with authorities deploying heavy security around the Chinese embassy and other suspected protest sites. (Photo: HOANG DINH NAM/AFP/Getty Images)
Vietnamese rioters have rampaged into hundreds of foreign factories in Ha Tinh Province and three provinces near Saigon in the south since May 13 during violent protests. Related violence has left two Chinese killed and more than 100 injured.
The protests came after Vietnamese ships and personnel repeatedly harassed the normal operations by a Chinese oil company in undisputed waters in the South China Sea.
Vietnamese authorities have urged the people to protest in a peaceful way and said the government would not tolerate any more “illegal” activities and trouble-makers.
On Sunday, when a nationwide wave of anti-China protests had been supposed to take place, dozens of foreign tourists were outnumbered by all sorts of police officers at Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, a famous tourist attraction and landmark in downtown Saigon.
A local young couple in wedding dresses were also seen with a photographer outside the 19th-century building shooting pictures. On the main streets, government workers were cruising in vehicles and using loudspeakers to urge citizens to ignore extremists’ incitement and not to participate in illegal protests.
A man was blocked and his bag searched by security staff before police took him away in front of the People’s Committee, or government, of the city’s District One, where apparently the man attempted to demonstrate anti-China banners.
When a Xinhua team tried to record a video footage, security men showed up and prohibited them from doing so.
Vietnamese security authorities have reinforced police protection for the Chinese Consulate General in Saigon, which has been a major target of Vietnamese protesters. Some protestors even attempted to break in last week.
Read the full story by Yan Hao from Xinhua.
