Vietnamese gather to commemorate border war with China

More than 100 people have gathered in Hanoi to commemorate the anniversary of Vietnam's brief but bloody border war with China.
Thirty seven years ago, 600,000 Chinese troops invaded Vietnam to "teach Vietnam a lesson" for ousting the Beijing-backed Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. China withdrew its troops after a month.
The residents lit incense today and laid flowers at the statue of King Ly Thai To, a Vietnamese hero, in a ceremony that lasted an hour. They chanted "down with the aggressors," and "Hoang Sa, Truong Sa," the Vietnamese terms for the Paracel and Spratly islands, which are claimed by both countries.

The commemoration took place even though large gatherings without government sanctions are often stopped by the police. There have been no official government commemorations of the war.