weeks. The two nations are in their most heated dispute in years over competing claims to

a section of the South China Sea.

China's navy planted an oil rig right inside that territory May 1. And Vietnam's government

immediately took issue. Both sides accuse the other of ramming ships. And, as it has

done in other sea disputes, China used water cannons to ward off foreign vessels. (Via

The Telegraph, Daily Mail)

And now Vietnam's dispute abroad has meant rare public unrest at home. The Vietnamese

government typically doesn't allow protests, but it did Sunday — right in front of China's

embassy in Hanoi.

BBC cameras show a few hundred protesters with signs reading "Get out China." State

media outlets in Vietnam might have inflated that number a bit, reporting thousands of

demonstrators.

Unlike anti-China protests in 2012 that were broken up by Vietnam police, authorities allowed

Sunday's demonstrations to play out.

It looks a lot like the scene in Japan and in other regional neighbors who say China

is getting more aggressive about claiming oil-rich territory across southeast Asian

waters. (Via CNN)

The disputes are looming over this year's ASEAN summit for the region's governments.

And Beijing, which would rather not talk about them at all, isn't happy about that. (Via

Al Jazeera)

China has, in turn, blamed Washington for raising tensions. President Barack Obama just

finished up a trip through Asia two weeks ago. Friday, a spokesman for China's foreign

ministry told reporters, "the recent series of irresponsible and wrong comments from the

United States which neglect the facts about the relevant waters have encouraged certain

countries' dangerous and provocative behavior." (Via The White House)

Aside from Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan are all among the nations

accusing China of making a land grab.