China-Vietnam tensions: Beijing vows to continue drilling

 

China says its oil rig will continue drilling in contested waters in the South China Sea, despite deadly anti-Beijing riots in Vietnam.

Top General Fang Fenghui said Beijing could not "afford to lose an inch" of territory, blaming Hanoi for stirring up trouble in the region.

Speaking in the US, he also warned that America's efforts to increase its focus on Asia were fuelling tensions.

"It's quite clear... who is conducting normal activity and who is disrupting it," the People's Liberation Army's chief of general staff said.

He also said some nations in the region had seized upon US President Barack Obama's so-called pivot to Asia to stir up trouble.

Gen Fang urged the US not to take sides in China's escalating dispute with Vietnam.

US Vice-President Joe Biden, however, expressed "serious concern" over the Chinese rig move.

"No nation should take provocative steps to advance claims over disputed areas in a manner that undermines peace and stability in the region," a statement from his office quoted him as telling Gen Fang.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi earlier condemned the violence in an urgent call with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, according to China's Xinhua news agency.

Mr Wang also called on Hanoi to take measures to ensure the safety of the lives and property of Chinese nationals and firms in Vietnam.

A delegation of Chinese officials has been sent to Vietnam for talks.

Reports suggest many Chinese workers have left, with hundreds crossing the border into Cambodia.

During Tuesday's protest, protesters appeared to have targeted businesses with Chinese characters in their signs, even if they were from places such as Taiwan.

Wednesday's protest happened at a huge steel mill owned by Taiwan's Formosa Plastics. Local officials said one Chinese man was killed and 149 people injured as protesters targeted and attacked Chinese workers and damaged facilities.


 Vietnam-China tensions

• 1954-1975: Communist China backs North Vietnam during the Vietnam war

• 1974: China and South Vietnam fight a bloody war over the Paracel Islands; China seizes Vietnam-controlled islands. 

• 1975: Vietnam war ends, Vietnam-China relations deteriorate over Hanoi's ties with Russia and Beijing's support for the Khmer Rouge

• 1979: China and Vietnam fight a border war; thousands of troops die

• 1988: Two sides fight over the Spratly Islands; about 60 Vietnamese sailors killed

• 1991: Sino-Vietnamese ties normalised; trade expands

• 2011: Tensions mount with China over South China Sea exploration; US-Vietnam rapprochement gathers pace