5 a.m. Sunday, May 11, 2014.
It was past midnight when blogger Nguyen Hoang Vi sent a short message to her friends: "I could have escaped! I wanted to go to bed early but could not for being so exciting."
Mrs. Tran Ngoc Anh said on Facebook that security agents and police disguised as thugs have been chasing members of the “United Land Grab Victims Movement” very closely. Last night, the farmers must take overnight shelter at different places in Saigon waiting for the time to join the protest in the morning.
Blogger Ho Nhat Thanh, who is on the run from police, shares his feelings with his friends: "I know that the patriots who do not follow the state-sanctioned guidance of socialism like me will be banned from participating in the protests tomorrow. I know that although [we] can escape from police blockade [we] will possibly be suppressed at the protests tomorrow. We know that it is possible that we will be arrested, beaten, and insulted but we will not retreat because the Nation cannot be free when no man dares to pay for it. China looks us down not because our country is small but because of the long silence from us that makes they think we are rottenly coward!"
From Nha Trang, bloggers Me Nam - Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh and SeaFree - Pham Van Hai have disappeared and the “agents” are searching for them. Peter Lam Bui and Bach Hong Quyen are also temporarily free somewhere tonight in Saigon. From Hanoi, blogger Gio Lang Thang has disappeared in the last few days and he is believed to be on his way to Saigon.
Reportedly, lawyer Le Cong Dinh and Nguyen Tien Trung were "invited" and warned not to participate in the protests.
Blogger Miu Manh Me (strong Miu) also faced police harassment and bravely responded by writing on Facebook as follows:
“To security agents who play despicable games,
[I] do not know whether you have parents or not, but you are seemingly very excited in scaring other families. God has eyes and his justice. You cause troubles to someone’s family and disrupt the peace in their home; you make my mother and my friends worried about me and cry for me, so you and your family will suffer what you have done to others. If you do not want me to go to somewhere tomorrow, then please call and talk to me directly. I also have my own phone, I take full responsibility for whatever I do, my parents are totally unrelated to my personal affairs, so do not take advantage of their love for me. You blatantly violate my freedom of movement and my privacy. I curse the policeman who calls my mother today to threaten her, making her become so worried and cry in front of me today, that person will receive 100 times the pains that I am feeling."
Security agents have confined several members of the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers at home for a few days.
Blogger Trinh Kim Tien is feeling her patriotism imprisoned. She has been unable to escape police blockade and sent a text message to her friends 4 a.m., "They have guarded me since yesterday.” A few hours earlier, she sent out the message below.
"We participate in the protests in order to reaffirm our rights of citizenship, to reclaim a national honor that has been trampled, to confirm to the world that the people of Vietnam are not weak, we love our country of Vietnam. Only when we dare to speak out to protect our country the world can hear us and support us. When your house is robbed and you do not yell for help then do not expect any kind of help from your neighbors. We are not against you or the authorities if they really want to become a true patriot. We are against China and we want to ask the leaders to be responsible to the people and the country.”
Three other bloggers - Hoang Dung, Chau Van Thi, Pham Thanh Nghien - and the musician Tuan Khanh have also been guarded closely.
7 a.m.:
Saigon:
According to Danlambao reporters, most intersections and crossroads leading to the protest site at the Youth Cultural House guarded by uniformed police at checkpoints. Many steel fences were already prepared at the street corners.
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
At the hot spot of the Youth Cultural House, security forces comprised all kinds also appear along the streets. According to observers, the building of the Communist Youth Union of Ho Chi Minh across the street will likely be the police command center for police operation today.
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Near the Youth Cultural House, at the intersection of Pham Ngoc Thach Street and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, about 20 “youth volunteers” in blue shirts and regime-hired security guards are standing and sitting on the sidewalks.
Not far away, the building area of the Consulate General of China is reinforced with iron fences and barbed wires. This is a very disturbing front view of a building that has a weird architectural look in Saigon.
Hanoi: Security around the Chinese embassy has also been tightened. However, numerous patriotic demonstrators began to appear.
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
8 a.m.:
Hanoi: Many banners with the contents against China’s aggression were raised. The atmosphere in the area of the Chinese Embassy is very hot.
Photo: CTV Danlambao
Saigon: Mrs. Tran Ngoc Anh, a land grab victim from Ba Ria - Vung Tau, was kidnapped by police on her way to the protest site.
Photo: CTV Danlambao
News Update at 9 a.m.:
The patriotic protests against Chinese invasion explode at Hanoi and Saigon.
Hanoi: An estimated number of 1,000 people gathered to chant protest messages in front of the Chinese embassy.
Protesters in Hanoi
Photo: Facebook Le Anh Hung
Saigon: About 500 protesters are marching and chanting protest messages against Chinese invasion.
Protesters are marching on streets in Saigon
Police blockade at the intersection of Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Hai Ba Trung, preventing protesters from getting to the General Consulate of China
Blogger Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh (Mẹ Nấm Gấu)
The General Consulate of China is well protected by 2 layers of security guards
9:30 a.m.:
In Saigon, after the dense security fences were setup to block access to the Consulate General of China, the protesters have marched back towards the Youth Cultural House. Protesters are chanting protest slogans and “Freedom for the patriots.”
Photo: FB Bach Hong Quyen
Video: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Blogger: Nguyễn Hồ Nhật Thành
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Facebook Huy Đoàn
Photo: Facebook Huy Đoàn
Photo: Facebook Huy Đoàn
Blogger Trinh Kim Tien is confined to her home
Danang: Significantly, when patriotism is flourishing across the country, people in Đà Nẵng also joined an unexpected demonstration against Chinese invaders.
Đà Nẵng people's protest rally against Chinese invaders under tight police surveillance (photo courtesy: FB Le Anh Hung)
Young people in Đà Nẵng in their anti-China protest on May 11 (video: CTV Danlambao)
Vital demonstration in Hanoi
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Pedant Nguyen Thuong Long - Photo: FB Thuy Nga
Photo: FB Bach Hong Quyen
10:15 a.m.:
Hanoi: Protesters are marching towards the Opera House and chanting patriotic slogans.
Saigon: Protesters are marching in downtown Saigon. At peak time, the number of protesters increases to 2,000.
10:30 a.m.:
Protesters are marching towards the Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi
Video: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
Photo: Ctv Danlambao
The anti-China protests in Hanoi, Saigon and Da Nang have ended for today.
May 11, 2014, marks an important turning point. For the first time in recent memory, protest banners against the aggression from the Communist China and demanding banners calling for the freedom of jailed patriots have been defiantly lifted up in Saigon and Hanoi during the protests, which had been publicly announced days in advance.
On the one hand, the Vietnamese Communist Party and the Communist authorities dispatched their security forces to prevent bloggers and activists from participating in the protests by carrying out arrests or setting up police blockade; on the other hand, they had to mobilize party members and the communist youths to take part in protests against their comrades of “16 Golden Words and 4 Goodnesses” in order to prevent protesters from snowballing into mass protests against their totalitarian rules.
The protests have ended for the day. We have spoken out loudly but our land is still lost and our sea robbed. The rig of hegemony remains at the gateway of the East Sea inside our waters.
The fight against foreign invasion and internal oppressors continues.
The success of the protests is a triumph of our patriotic people across 3 regions in the Nation. The results we have achieved today have been paid for with the sacrifices and efforts of all patriots those who have been imprisoned or even lost their lives for speaking out against Chinese aggression.
Let us repeat the same slogans we have chanted in the demonstrations today: Freedom for the imprisoned patriots – Freedom.
At the anti-China protest in Saigon, many banners demanding the release of patriots were publically displayed amongst the resounding cry 'Freedom to the patriots' - 'Freedom' Video: Ctv Danlambao
Da Nang people also unexpectedly held a demonstration against Chinese invasion.
Video: CTV Danlambao
Video: CTV Danlambao
