HANOI, July 19 (Reuters) - Vietnam said on Friday a Chinese
oil survey vessel and its escorts had conducted activities in
Vietnam's exclusive economic zone and continental shelf that
violated its sovereignty.
Vietnam has demanded China stop the "unlawful activities"
and that its ships leave Vietnamese waters, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement.
Hang's statement comes days after two Washington-based
think-tanks said Vietnamese and Chinese ships had been engaged
in a weeks-long standoff near an offshore oil block in disputed
waters of the South China Sea, which fall within Vietnam's
exclusive economic zone.