China withdraws oil rig from Sout China Sea

China withdraws oil rig from Sout China Sea

BEIJING (AFP): China has withdrawn an exploratory oil rig in the South China Sea in an area disputed with Vietnam, a senior official with the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) said yesterday.

"After completing its normal work, the Kantan III has been withdrawn," said Yang Chunbao, an official in the CNOOC general manager's office.

He refused to say whether the platform had been withdrawn on government orders.

But a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing also confirmed the move saying: "The Chinese exploration ship Kantan III has already come home as planned after completing its normal activities."

Earlier, the director of the maritime department in Vietnam's border commission, Huynh Minh Chinh said the platform and its support boats were withdrawn on April 1, following strong protests from Hanoi over its deployment.

But both the Chinese and Vietnamese foreign ministries confirmed that expert-level talks on the dispute, earlier scheduled for April 9, would still go ahead as planned.

These expert-level talks are to be held in Beijing at Hanoi's request.

"The Chinese government always follows the fundamental principles of international law in resolving disputes through peaceful means and it stands for settling its disputes with the country concerned through friendly negotiations," the Chinese spokesman said.

The disputed zone lies south of the Tonkin Gulf, almost equidistant from the central-Vietnamese coast and the Chinese island of Hainan and is believed to be rich in natural gas.

It is not covered by regular bilateral talks on contested areas in the South China Sea.

The dispute flared on March 7 when a Chinese oil rig moved into the contested area prompting Vietnam to demand that China move it.