China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday that Chinese drilling in the South China Sea has nothing to do with the United States and the country has no right to make "irresponsible" remarks about China's sovereign rights, according to the Associated Press.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki criticized China for its "provocative introduction of an oil rig to the area," the AP reported.
"We are strongly concerned about dangerous conduct and intimidation by vessels in the disputed area," Psaki said, though she declined to comment directly on whether Chinese vessels had rammed Vietnamese vessels intentionally, according to the AP.
The U.S. had sharply criticized the movement of a huge Chinese oil rig into waters that Vietnam says are its territory, the AP reported.
During a daily news briefing, Hua said the U.S. has no right to make unwarranted remarks on China's sovereign rights and that the oil rig was in China's territorial waters and therefore drilling is "normal and legal," according to the AP. The country previously said foreign ships would be banned within a 3-mile radius of the rig.
"The disruptive activities by the Vietnamese side are in violation of China's sovereign rights," Chunying said, the AP reported.
China's deployment of the oil rig on May 1 and the flotilla of escort ships, some armed, is seen as one of its most provocative steps in a gradual campaign of asserting its sovereignty in the South China Sea, according to the AP.
After China stationed the oil rig, Vietnam immediately dispatched marine police and fishery protection vessels but they were harassed as they approached, the AP reported.
Several boats were damaged during the confrontation, which was caught on video, and at least six Vietnamese on board were injured, officials said, according to the AP.
