China today rebuffed ASEAN's suggestion to leave the disputed waters of South China Sea to ease frictions with Vietnam while a state daily called for "non peaceful measures" to deal with Hanoi following mob attacks against Chinese firms and nationals in the country.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying described as "groundless and unreasonable" the comments by Secretary General of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Le Luong Minh that "we have to get China out of the territorial waters of" Vietnam.
Doing that "will be conducive to restoring confidence" in talks to resolve disputed claims by several countries in the resource-rich waters, Minh told Wall Street Journal.
Reacting to Minh's remarks, Hua said China has been stating that it is operating its oil rig from Chinese waters located 17 nautical miles from the nearest Chinese island.
"So it is not China which should leave but Vietnamese vessels which are ramming into Chinese vessels," she said.
Twenty one Chinese were reported killed and over 100 injured in the anti-China riots in Vietnam, stated to be the worst since the two Communist neighbours fought a border war in 1979.
About 460 factories, mostly Chinese, were damaged in the mob attacks over attempts by a Chinese oil rig to drill in the disputed waters in South China Sea.
Commenting on the tense stand off, state-run Global Times said in its editorial, "The South China Sea disputes should be settled in a peaceful manner, but that doesn't mean China can't resort to non-peaceful measures in the face of provocation from Vietnam and the Philippines."
"Many people believe that a forced war would convince some countries of China's sincerely peaceful intentions, but it is also highly likely that China's strategy would face more uncertainties," it said.
Earlier, China has lodged a diplomatic protest with Vietnam voicing strong condemnation over spate of unprecedented mob attacks on Chinese factories and the deaths of its nationals.
