Vietnam says Chinese bombers in disputed South China Sea increase tensions
HANOI (Reuters) - Recent activity by China’s strategic bombers in the
South China Sea’s Paracel Islands seriously violated Vietnam’s
sovereignty over the disputed territory, Vietnam’s foreign ministry said
on Monday.
China’s air force said bombers such as the H-6K had
landed and taken off from islands and reefs in the South China Sea as
part of training exercises last week.
The flights “increase
tensions, cause regional instabilities and are not good for maintaining a
peaceful, stable and cooperative environment in the East Sea,” foreign
ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement, using the
Vietnamese name for the South China Sea.
The Philippines also
expressed “serious concerns” on Monday over the presence of the bombers
in the area and its foreign ministry has taken “appropriate diplomatic
action”.
Vietnam
and China have long been embroiled in maritime disputes in the South
China Sea. The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims
to parts of the potentially energy-rich maritime territory.
“Vietnam
demands that China stop these activities, cease militarisation of the
area, and strictly respect Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa
islands,” Hang said, referring to the Paracels.
Hang said the
presence of the bombers in the area has an adverse impact on ongoing
negotiations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
In
Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kan urged other
countries not to over-interpret what he called a routine military
patrol.
“We hope that relevant parties do not read too much into this,” Lu Kang told a daily news briefing.
Earlier
this month, Vietnam also asked China to withdraw military equipment
from the nearby Spratly Islands in the disputed waters, following media
reports that China had installed missiles there.
In response,
China said its deployment of defence equipment and troops on the islands
was its right, adding that the equipment helped protect the peace and
stability of the region and “does not target any country”.
Vietnam’s state oil firm PetroVietnam has said maritime tensions with
China will hurt its offshore exploration and production activities.
In March, the company told Spanish energy firm Repsol to halt an oil project offshore of Vietnam under pressure from China.
Last
week, a unit of Russian state oil firm Rosneft also expressed its
concern that its recent drilling in the area could upset China.
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