Some curious things get by the internet censors in China, and sometimes that raises a lot of questions.

Take for example the curious situation of internet users who are openly discussing China’s supposed plans to “occupy” Vietnam.

This has rattled Hanoi. According to an article today in the South China Morning Post, an English-language daily in Hong Kong, Hanoi has summoned Chinese diplomats twice in the past month to seek explanations.

China, after all, is said to employ 35,000 people to sanitize internet content, not to mention the throngs of “guides” in the “50 cent” brigades who offer support of party policy on any number of themes on internet bulletin boards.

The Morning Post (which is behind a pay wall) said the “occupation plans” appear to be unofficial. Yet censors do not seem to be leaping for the “delete” button. Curious.

The supposed plans detail a 31-day invasion, starting with five days of missile strikes from land, sea and air and climaxing in an invasion involving 310,000 troops sweeping into Vietnam from Yunnan , Guangxi and the South China Sea. The electronic jamming of Vietnamese command and communications centres is mentioned, along with the blocking of sea lanes in the South China Sea.

"Vietnam ... is a major threat to the safety of Chinese territories, and the biggest obstacle to the peaceful emergence of China," the plans posted on Sina.com and at least three other websites say.

"Also, Vietnam is the strategic hub of the whole of Southeast Asia. Vietnam has to be conquered first if Southeast Asia is to be under [China's] control again.

"From all perspectives, Vietnam is a piece of bone hard to be swallowed."

In a statement to the South China Morning Post, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung confirmed Beijing officials had been asked "to act so that such negative articles will not appear again since these may be harmful to ... bilateral relations".

"This is irrelevant information which goes against the trend of peace, friendship and co-operation for development in the region and the world and is not in the interests of the fine relationship existing between Vietnam and China," Mr Dung said.

Vietnam and China do not have the easiest of relationships even though they are both one-party states and share a 1,400-kilometer border. The two sides had a brief but bloody war in 1979. But they differ over maritime territory, specifically over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.

Earlier this year, Hanoi permitted a series of student protests outside the Chinese Embassy. Now, China is permitting its own nationalists to have some fun at Vietnam’s expense.

Could get outta hand.

Taiwan insists its diplomatic relations with Paraguay are secure. That probably means they are shaky, and Paraguay is "weighing offers" in the dollar diplomacy that marks the constant battle between Beijing and Taipei for allies.

Only 23 nations around the world, you may recall, recognize Taiwan in its perpetual tussle with mainland China, which has diplomatic relations with 170 countries. Taiwan’s allies are concentrated in the Caribbean, the South Pacific, Africa and Central America. In Europe, for instance, only the Vatican recognizes Taiwan.

In South America, Paraguay is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally.

That means when Paraguay wavers, it’s big news in Taipei.

Paraguay’s new president, former priest Fernando Lugo, who came to office Aug. 15, said in a weekend television interview that Asuncion would no longer back Taiwan’s bid to join the United Nations.

That prompted Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesman Henry Chen to say: “President Lugo has said several times that Paraguay-Taiwan ties are solid, so Taiwan-Paraguay ties will not change because of a change in Paraguay's support for Taiwan's U.N. bid.”

Lugo, a leftist, is already on record saying he wants closer relations with Beijing.

The beautiful actress Gong Li appears to have taken out Singaporean citizenship, if news reports from the city-state are to be trusted.

According to this Straits Times report, a chair with Gong Li’s name attached to it was set up at a recent citizenship ceremony at the city’s Supreme Court. But Gong Li was a no-show.

Gong Li, 42, is famed for such movies as Red Sorghum, Miami Vice and Memoirs of a Geisha, and her onetime liaison with filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

The Straits Times said some Singaporeans were not happy about her change of citizenship.

Here is what else the newspaper said:

But there are some who are pleased to have Gong Li - married to Singaporean tobacco businessman Ooi Hoe Seong - call Singapore home.

One blogger, Deborah, wrote: 'Gong Li's entrance would...propel Singapore's name further across the globe, boosting our reputation.'

Hairstylist David Gan, a good friend of the actress, confirmed that she had applied for a Singapore passport.

The Sunday Times tried to contact her through him but he said she did not return his call.

She was in Thailand early this month to promote her new film Shanghai with Hollywood actor John Cusack and Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat.

When contacted, the China Embassy here could not confirm if Gong Li had become a Singapore citizen.

One officer laughed and said: 'We knew about it only after reading your newspaper.'