Vietnam Objects to China's South China Sea Oil, Gas Drilling Program

Vietnam has protested a Chinese state oil company's posting of bids for energy development in the disputed South China Sea, Associated Press reported.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation opened nine oil and gas lots for international bidders over the weekend.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said the lots lie entirely within Vietnam's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

China's move was illegal and the bidding should cease immediately, said the statement from Nghi posted on the ministry's website late Tuesday.

Vietnam and China are among six claimants to all or parts of the Paracel and Spratly island groups in the South China Sea. The area has rich fishing grounds and potential energy resources.