A Vietnamese patrol boat and several Chinese vessels blasted each other with water cannons today near an oil rig recently positioned by Beijing in disputed waters, Vietnamese state media reported, in the latest incident in a dangerous standoff between the two nations.
The Tuoi Tre newspaper said it was the first time that Vietnamese vessels have responded to aggressive Chinese actions close to the deep sea rig, which was positioned May 1 in an area of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing and Hanoi.
Both sides have accused the other of ramming ships. Vietnam has presented a video showing Chinese ships hitting its vessels.
The newspaper, which had two journalists on the ship, said the Vietnamese vessel displayed a banner in Chinese urging Beijing to withdraw the rig.
Late yesterday, another newspaper quoted the coast guard chief as saying China had widened an exclusion zone around the rig to a radius of 10 miles (16 kilometers) and had deployed fighter jets to fly low over Vietnamese ships.
Vietnam has reacted with fury to the Chinese deployment, part of a campaign by Beijing to slowly cement its extensive sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, disregarding the anger of smaller Southeast Asian nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines which have rival claims.
Vietnam has demanded that China pull back the rig. China has refused, saying the waters are its "inherent territory." On Sunday, thousands of Vietnamese protesters took to the streets in Hanoi chanting anti-China slogans.
For the first time, the protests were covered by Vietnamese state media, indicating that the authoritarian government supported them.
