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China Sends Ship as Warning to Vietnam: No Court Case, No Oil Drilling

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - China sent a survey vessel through waters claimed by
   its maritime sovereignty rival Vietnam this month to warn Hanoi against
   starting new energy exploration projects and filing any motions in an
   international court, observers say.

   Tracking tools showed China's 105-meter-long, 58-person survey ship
   HaiyangDizhi4 moving toward Vietnamese waters on June 14, Radio Free
   Asia reported. The vessel passed three days later within 200 nautical
   miles (370 kilometers) of Vietnam's coast -- a country's normal
   exclusive economic zone -- the report said.

   That movement follows the passage of another Chinese vessel near
   Vietnam in April and a standoff at sea last year.

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