HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnam police broke up a demonstration Tuesday against China's policies ahead of the final international leg of the Olympic torch relay, witnesses said.
Officers detained several people for unfurling a banner and shouting, "Boycott the Beijing Olympics" through a megaphone in a market in the capital, Hanoi, two witnesses said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of getting into trouble with authorities in this communist country.
Police refused to comment on the incident.
Though the protest was in northern Hanoi, the relay is being held in southern Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.
Several police officers were stationed close to the starting point outside the city's 19th-century opera house. Earlier, a group of pro-China supporters rallied there, waving flags and shouting slogans. The parade was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. (1100 GMT).
Vietnam has assured its communist ally and giant northern neighbor it will not let demonstrators disrupt the parade, though students have threatened to protest China's claim to the Spratly Islands, claimed by both countries and several others.
The torch arrived in Vietnam Monday night from North Korea, where tens of thousands of citizens were mobilized to celebrate the relay in Pyongyang in the flame's first visit to the authoritarian nation.
Vietnamese authorities have given few details about the relay event in their country, including its route, apparently for security reasons.
China and Vietnam fought a border war in 1979, but relations have improved greatly in recent years.
At many of its 18 stops the relay has been beset by protests against China's human rights record and a recent crackdown in Tibet following anti-government riots. Large groups of flag-waving Chinese have also turned out at various points in the relay, sometimes clashing with protesters.
From Vietnam the flame will travel to the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau before heading to the mainland, including the restive Tibet region and the top of Mount Everest. E-mail to a friend
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