SINO/VIET NAM TERRITORIAL DISPUTE FLARES UP AGAIN
The smoldering dispute between China and Viet Nam regarding apparently petroleum prone areas in the South China Sea has flared anew.
A report from Beijing published in Moscow's Izvestia newspaper said China sent a geophysical research vessel to a sector of the South China Sea where two foreign ships were already conducting exploration under authorization from Viet Nam's state owned Petrovietnam. Izvestia said the Chinese ship stayed in the area for 7 days and interfered with the foreign vessels' work in Vietnamese waters.
The contested area is less than 200 miles from the Vietnamese coast near the Spratly (Nansha) Islands.
HANOI'S CHARGE
Hanoi charged that the Chinese ship's activity constituted a serious violation of Viet Nam's sovereignty and of international laws regarding the continental shelf and special economic zones.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official in Beijing called a press conference in which he noted that China had proclaimed its sovereignty over the entire South China Sea. Besides China and Viet Nam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, and Philippines claim rights to the disputed area.
The smaller countries have expressed concern that China will use its growing naval strength to seize the Spratly atolls and other South China Sea islands. Beijing responded with a proposal that nations claiming sovereignty in the Spratly area jointly exploit the islands' resources and agree to solve the ownership dispute later.
Izvestia said foreign observers haven't taken China's offer seriously.
"As a matter of fact," it declared, "none of the nations with territorial claims in the area has the technical capability to develop possible petroleum resources, which may he at great depths and may occur in difficult natural conditions.
"This means that western oil corporations must be attracted to the area. But these firms probably won't want to make substantial investments there until the territorial dispute is settled."
The Moscow newspaper observed that the latest clash between Viet Nam and China came only a short time after the two nations seemed to have normalized relations.
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