Vietnam demands Chinese oil exploration ship immediately leave its waters in South China Sea

The Haiyang Dizhi 8, which is accompanied by Chinese patrol vessels, has entered Vietnamese territory three times since July

Vietnam has ‘communicated with China’ and demanded that Beijing immediately withdraw the ship from its waters and ‘not repeat this action’

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Chinese survey ship HaiYang DiZhi 8. File photo: China Geological Survey

Published: 2:00am, 4 Oct 2019Updated: 3:02am, 4 Oct 2019

Vietnam on Thursday demanded that China withdraw an oil exploration ship that has expanded its operation to another area of Vietnam’s continental shelf in the disputed South China Sea.

“According to Vietnamese authorities, the group of ships has expanded their operation range within Vietnam's EEZ and continental shelf,” foreign affairs ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said.

Vietnam has “communicated with China” on this issue and demanded that Beijing immediately withdraw all the ships from Vietnamese waters and “not repeat this action”, the spokeswoman said.

The seismic survey ship, Haiyang Dizhi 8, first entered Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on July 3, in the southern area of the East Vietnam Sea and near the Spratly Islands – sparking a stand-off between Vietnamese and Chinese coastguard forces.

The survey ship, which is accompanied by Chinese patrol vessels, left the area on August 7, according to the Vietnamese government and publicly available maritime data, before returning a week later.