By Shannon Tiezzi
Vietnam has issued strong protests over the presence of a Chinese drilling rig near the Paracel Islands.
Even while tensions continue between China and the Philippines, a new flashpoint has emerged in the South China Sea. On May 5, China’s Maritime Safety Administration announced that a drilling rig owned by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) would be set up near the Paracel Islands (called Xisha by the Chinese). The announcement said the drill would be in operation for the next three months.
Vietnam has vocally denounced the move. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the drilling rig, located 120 nautical miles from the Vietnamese coast, is located within their exclusive economic zone. According to the ministry, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh called Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi to criticize the drilling operation. Minh denounced the presence of China’s drilling rig and “a large number of vessels” as illegal and a serious violation of Vietnamese sovereignty, as well as control over its EEZ. Vietnam “cannot accept but resolutely opposes China’s act, and demands that it completely withdraw the drilling rig and escort vessels,” Minh said.
China seems to be taking a page from Japan’s book on dealing with a territorial dispute by ignoring the other party’s claims. Xinhua reported that Yang Jiechi told Pham Binh Minh there was no dispute over the islands. Instead, Yang denounced “the Vietnamese harassment of Chinese companies’ normal activities” near the Paracels. China’s Foreign Ministry had similar comments, with spokesperson Hua Chunying telling the press the “relevant drilling work is totally within waters off China’s Xisha islands.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat