From The Canadian Press
HANOI, Vietnam _ Chinese and Vietnamese ships were locked in a tense standoff Thursday in disputed waters where Beijing is trying to set up an oil rig, a Vietnamese commander said, as the United States urged both sides to de-escalate tensions in the most serious incident in the South China Sea in years.
A hostess serves bottled water to Yi Xianliang, deputy director-general of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, in front of a map showing a disputed zone in South China Sea during a press conference in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 8, 2014. Chinese and Vietnamese ships were locked in a tense standoff Thursday in disputed waters where Beijing is trying to set up an oil rig, a Vietnamese commander said, as the United States urged both sides to de-escalate tensions in the most serious incident in the South China Sea in years. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
Vietnam’s main stock market index recorded its biggest one-day drop since 2001 on fears of a protracted stalemate or possible conflict between the neighbouring nations, which have fought two naval skirmishes in the waters since 1974 and have history of conflict going back 1,000 years.
The standoff started May 1 when China moved a deep sea oil rig into waters close to the Paracel Islands in what most analysts believe was an especially assertive move to help cement its claims of sovereignty over the area. Vietnam, which says the islands belong to it, immediately dispatched ships.
On Wednesday, Vietnam said Chinese vessels had repeatedly rammed and fired water cannons at its ships, damaging several of them, and showed video footage of the incidents. China insists it is doing nothing wrong, and has said it will continue with its drilling activities in the area.
Ngo Ngoc Thu, deputy commander of Vietnam Coast Guard, said the situation remained tense Thursday, but there had been no contact.
Read the full story from The Canadian Press.
