Vietnam will take resolute steps to safeguard local and foreign investors exploring and producing oil and gas in the country's exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, chairman of the government office, told a press conference Friday.
Phuc is the highest Vietnamese government official to speak publicly about a May 26 incident involving PetroVietnam seismic vessel Binh Minh 2. Vietnam alleges three Chinese patrol boats harrassed the Binh Minh 2, cutting cables it was using to take seismic readings.
China claims Vietnam's oil and gas exploration has undermined its jurisdictional rights in the South China Sea.
Phuc said the Binh Minh 2 would continue its oil and gas exploration work in Vietnam's territorial waters, regardless of the incident, according to a report from state-run Vietnam News Agency.
A defense department source said eight Vietnamese naval vessels would escort the Binh Minh 2, up from three previously. The ship anchored in the central port of Nha Trang for a short maintenance program before returning to work on Sunday as planned.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh Friday told his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 10th Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore that the Binh Minh 2 incident had prompted anger in Vietnam, the VNA said.
This year the Dialogue is being attended by senior officials from 28 countries, including US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Security in the South China Sea, or East Sea as it is known in Vietnam, is a hot topic at the gathering.
Thanh said the two countries should not let such an incident, after which Vietnam accused China of "infringement on its territorial waters," recur. In response, Liang said the Chinese Navy was not involved in the May 26 incident.
On Saturday the Philippines, for the second time in a week, accused China of causing instability in the region by conducting military activities and preparing for oil exploration in the Southeast Asian nation's territorial waters.
