China Tells Vietnam to Stop Oil, Gas Exploration in South China Sea

China has urged Vietnam to desist from what it called unilateral oil and gas exploration in the two countries' overlapping waters in the South China Sea, state media reported.

Reacting to Vietnamese accusations that China was putting hurdles in its exploratory work, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday that the Vietnamese statement was contrary to facts.

The waters mentioned by the Vietnamese side are near the Beibu Gulf, an area where China and Vietnam have made overlapping claims, he said.

Chinese ships carried out routine fishing activity in the waters but were driven away by Vietnamese naval vessels, Hong said, adding that the two countries were negotiating the demarcation and joint development of the waters.

"The Vietnamese side should stop the unilateral development of oil and gas in the said areas and stop disturbing Chinese fishing ships so as to create a favorable atmosphere for negotiation," the Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

A Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman had alleged on Wednesday that China was violating its sovereignty, and accused Chinese ships of cutting cables belonging to Vietnamese survey vessels.