[Asia Pacific] Rare rallies in Vietnam: "China Back-off !"

REUTERS:
"(Reuters) - Hundreds rallied on Sunday in Vietnam's biggest cities to denounce China's setting up of a giant oil rig in the South China Sea, a rare protest likely to prolong a tense standoff between the two communist neighbors." (more details)

Protester Truong Van Dung (C) holds a photo of captain Nguy Van Tha who was killed in the January 1974 Battle of the Paracel Islands, during an anti-China protest in front of the Opera House in Hanoi May 11, 2014.

Boys hold placards which read "Chinese invaders, get out of the East Sea (South China Sea)" (L) and "China get out, East Sea", in front of the Chinese embassy during an anti-China protest in Hanoi May 11, 2014.

A protester holds a placard which reads, "nation first" while marching during an anti-China protest on a street in Hanoi May 11, 2014.

 AFP:
"Protesters staged one of Vietnam's largest ever anti-China demonstrations Sunday, decrying Beijing's deployment of a deep-water drilling rig in contested waters as territorial tensions soar." (more details)

TUOITRENEWS:
"Tens of thousands of Vietnamese people took to the streets on Sunday in Hanoi, Hue City, Da Nang City, and Ho Chi Minh City to protest China’s illegal deployment of a giant oil rig to Vietnamese waters in the East Vietnam Sea." (more details)

A large number of people gather at the Opera House during a protest in Ho Chi Minh City on May 11, 2014 against China's illegal deployment of oil rig HD 981 to Vietnamese waters in the East Vietnam Sea on May 1.

"China is threatening peace, stability, and freedom of navigation by illegally deploying a giant oil rig to Vietnamese waters in the East Vietnam Sea early this month, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at a summit in Myanmar on Sunday." (more details)

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (L) speaks at the ASEAN Summit 2014 in Myanmar on May 11, 2014.

NEWSTRAITSTIMES:
"NAY PYI TAW: Asean Foreign Ministers are expected to make a collective stance on the ongoing territorial disputes involving the South China Sea by the end of the 10-nation bloc's annual summit here." (more details)

NHK:

"Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are meeting in Myanmar amid mounting tension in the South China Sea following collisions between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels." (more details)