Source: US News & World Report
“Vietnam on Thursday accused a Chinese survey vessel and its escorts of violating its sovereignty, and demanded that Beijing remove the ships from its waters. Vietnam and China have long been embroiled in a territorial dispute over a potentially energy-rich stretch in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than $3 trillion of commerce passes annually. … Last week Vietnam criticised recent conduct by a Chinese research ship in the same area of the Southeast Asian country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). China has said that scientific research is a normal activity in areas under Chinese jurisdiction. China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory, based on what it says are old maps, including waters that lie within Vietnam’s EEZ and four other Southeast Asian countries.” (05/25/23)