
China Denies Drilling in Disputed Waters
BEIJING, Jan 20 (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry stated on Wednesday {that a} $1-billion deepwater oil rig was not drilling in disputed territory within the South China Sea, in response to a warning from Vietnam in opposition to such exercise.
Vietnam intently tracks the motion of the oil rig, which in mid-2014 brought about the worst diplomatic breakdown between the neighbors in many years, when China parked it for 10 weeks in waters Vietnam considers its personal.
This week Vietnam stated Beijing had steered the rig, the Haiyang Shiyou 981, right into a stretch the place jurisdiction is unclear.
“According to what is understood, China’s Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling platform is operating in Chinese-controlled waters that are completely undisputed,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei advised a each day information briefing.
“We hope the Vietnamese side can view this calmly, meet China half way and jointly work hard to appropriately handle relevant maritime issues.”
Annual commerce between the communist neighbors exceeds $60 billion however anti-China sentiment is robust in Vietnam, the place individuals are embittered over what many see as a historical past of Chinese bullying and territorial infringements within the South China Sea.
China’s Maritime Safety Administration stated on Wednesday it might be drilling roughly 140 km (87 miles) south of the resort metropolis Sanya on China’s Hainan island, and 150 km (93 miles) west of the Paracel Islands that China occupies and Vietnam claims.
It is 210 km (130 miles) from the coast of Vietnam, which locations it in roughly the identical space as between June and October 2015.
The company stated it might be working there till March 10 and warned ships to remain 2,000 m (6,562 ft) away.
China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL), a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), manages the platform and rents it out.
Neither COSL nor oil large China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) – which leased the platform in 2014 amid the earlier dispute – answered phone calls to hunt remark.
PetroChina, the flagship subsidiary of CNPC, stated it was not conscious who was at present leasing the platform.
In 2014, China’s deployment of the rig about 120 nautical miles off Vietnam’s coast, in what Vietnam considers its unique financial zone, led to the worst breakdown in relations since a short border conflict in 1979.
Vietnam’s concern over the rig follows its complaints, echoed by the Philippines, over China’s current take a look at flights on a man-made island within the disputed Spratly archipelago.
China considers a lot of the South China Sea to be below its jurisdiction however Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims. About $5 trillion in ship-borne commerce passes by the waters every year. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Adam Rose; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.