China accuses Vietnam of ramming its drilling vessels

China said it was “deeply shocked” at Vietnam’s disruption of its drilling in the South China Sea, accusing its southern neighbour of intentionally ramming its ships but calling for talks to end a bitter row sparked by Beijing’s parking of a giant oil rig in contested waters.

China’s ongoing claims to vast areas of water and mostly uninhabited islets in the South China Sea and East China Sea have caused tensions with all of its neighbours, especially Japan. China’s Asian neighbours are resisting its moves to assert control over the resources of disputed maritime areas. They are also seeking closer ties with the US and a code of conduct to avoid conflicts over seas that are rich in oil and gas.

In a separate incident, Philippine police detained 11 fishermen this week near a disputed shoal close to the disputed Spratly Islands.

China said its drilling operations were being carried out in its territory and it had acted with the “utmost restraint” in using water cannons in response to rammings it blamed on Vietnam.

China has parked about 80 ships around the rig, seven of them military, according to Vietnamese officials. Its foreign ministry has shown reporters what it said were video clips of Chinese ships hitting Vietnamese Seaguard vessels.

A senior foreign ministry official in Beijing demanded that Vietnam withdraw its ships after it said that Chinese vessels used water cannon and rammed eight of its vessels at the weekend near the rig.

Hanoi said two vessels were badly damaged and six people were wounded in the worst setback to ties between the two Communist nations in years.

China organised a press briefing at short notice, during which Yi Xianliang, deputy director-general of the ministry of foreign affairs’ department of boundary and ocean affairs, insisted that Beijing had dispatched only civilian vessels to the area while Hanoi sent several armed ships. “Our aim, our only aim, is to guarantee our reasonable, legal, normal drilling operations,” Yi said.