U.S. warns China on ‘bullying’ acts

State Dept. claims Beijing is interfering in South China Sea

HANOI, Vietnam — The United States is concerned by reports of China’s interference with oil and gas activities in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where Vietnam accuses Beijing of violating its sovereignty.

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said China’s “repeated provocative actions aimed at the offshore oil and gas development of other claimant states threaten regional energy security and undermine the free and open Indo-Pacific energy market.”

Vietnam on Friday demanded China remove a survey ship, which it says lies within Vietnam’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone. China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety and has rattled smaller neighbors by constructing seven man-made islands in the disputed waters and equipped them with military runways and outposts.

Chinese coast guard vessels have also been reported near a drilling rig in the area where Vietnam has contracted Russia to develop gas fields.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang urged Hanoi to respect China’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction, “and not to take any move that may complicate matters.”

In May 2014, Chinese and Vietnamese vessels engaged in a dangerous confrontation when China’s national oil company moved its oil platform into waters Vietnam considers its territory.

Ortagus calls on China to “cease its bullying behavior and refrain from engaging in this type of provocative and destabilizing activities.”