Beijing starts military exercise in disputed South China Sea as tensions with Vietnam rise

China started a series of military training exercises near the Paracel chain of islands in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, amid growing tensions with Vietnam over the vital maritime trade route.

Ships were prohibited from entering three locations in and near the Paracels from Tuesday morning until Thursday afternoon, according to three brief notices published on the Maritime Safety Administration website on Monday. No details were given of the purpose of the training, nor which military units would be involved.

Tensions in the South China Sea re-emerged last month, with a week-long confrontation between Chinese and Vietnamese coastguard vessels around the energy-rich Vanguard Bank, after Chinese survey ship the Haiyang Dizhi 8 entered the area, which Hanoi has declared part of its exclusive economic zone.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry has also complained about the presence of Chinese coastguard ships near its oil rig operation off the Vanguard Bank.

On Tuesday, Vietnamese police said they had dispersed a brief protest outside the Chinese embassy in Hanoi, in which about 10 people demanded the departure of the Chinese ships from Vanguard Bank. The protest came just days after a Vietnamese fishermen’s association publicly urged the government to take stronger action to remove the ships, which it said had disrupted fishing in the area.

While observers said this week’s training could be part of China’s regular military exercises as Beijing seeks to consolidate its control of the Paracels – also known as Xisha in Chinese and Hoang Sa in Vietnamese – many believed it also could be a message to Hanoi.