Vietnam accuses Chinese oil survey vessel of violating its sovereignty in S. China Sea

Hanoi on Friday accused a Chinese oil survey vessel and its escorts of violating its sovereignty and demanded that China remove the ships from Vietnamese waters.

Two US-based think tanks reported on Wednesday that Chinese and Vietnamese vessels had engaged in a standoff lasting several weeks near an oil block in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone, Reuters said. Neither Beijing nor Hanoi have directly confirmed or denied the reports.

“The Chinese survey ship ‘Haiyang Dizhi 8’ and its escorts conducted activities in the southern area of the East Sea that violated Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in Hanoi, referring to the South China Sea. Vietnam has demanded China stop the “unlawful activities” and that its ships leave Vietnamese waters, she said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday Beijing hopes that “the Vietnamese side can earnestly respect China’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the relevant waters.”