 Vietnam seizes Chinese oil tanker: state media Hanoi (AFP) April 4, 2016 - Vietnam's coast guard has seized a Chinese oil tanker which it claims intruded into Vietnamese waters, state media said Monday, the latest episode in a festering territorial dispute in the South China Sea. The Qiong Yangpu was carrying 100,000 litres of oil, the official Vietnam News Agency said, adding that it was captured Thursday and impounded in the northern port of Hai Phong. The three-man crew was handed over to police, the report said. "It was spotted and seized by Hai Phong coast guards... 12 nautical miles from the marine delineation line in the Tonkin Gulf to the northwest of Vietnam's Bach Long Vi island," the report said. Police, military, and coast guard officials in Hai Phong declined comment Monday. According to the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper, the tanker was selling oil to Chinese fishing boats in the area. "The captain, however, failed to present relevant documents to prove the origin of the oil, while his two crew members have no operating licence," Tuoi Tre said. Vietnam and neighbouring China have longstanding territorial disputes over the Spratly and Paracel Islands, and often trade diplomatic barbs over oil exploration and fishing rights in the South China Sea. Vietnam regularly chases Chinese fishing vessels out of waters it claims, but it is rare for authorities to hold a boat and its crew. In recent years China has begun aggressively patrolling near the contested islands and Vietnamese officials accuse it of imposing fishing bans and using patrol boats to keep foreign trawlers out. Hanoi says hundreds of its fishing boat crews have been arrested by Chinese authorities over the last few years. Beijing has occupied the Paracels, known as Xisha in Chinese, since a brief war with South Vietnam in 1974. It also claims the Spratlys, as do -- in whole or in part -- Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei as well as Vietnam. Beijing claims as its historical territory virtually all of the South China Sea, which is believed to sit atop huge oil and gas reserves.
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US and Philippine troops began major exercises on Monday as China's state media warned "outsiders" against interfering in tense South China Sea territorial disputes.
The official Xinhua news agency gave the warning as Manila and Washington launched the 11-day Balikatan (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) exercises with a low-key opening ceremony in Manila.
US Defence Secretary Ash Carter is to fly to the Philippines next week to observe live-firing of artillery and visit US Navy ships taking part.
Some 5,000 US troops are taking part along with nearly 4,000 Philippine soldiers and 80 from Australia.
"The... exercises caps Manila's recent attempts to involve outsiders in (a) regional row," China's official news agency Xinhua said in a commentary.
It cited Japan, which sent a submarine on a visit to the Philippines last weekend, and Australia.
"However, a provocation so fear-mongering and untimely as such is likely to boomerang on the initiators," Xinhua added.
"A big country with vital interests in Asia, the United States should first clarify the targets of its Pivot to Asia strategy, which so far has featured no more than unscrupulous inconsistency between fear-mongering deeds and peace-loving words."
China lays claim to almost all of the South China Sea, despite partial counter-claims by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines.
In recent years it has built major structures including radar systems and airstrips over reclaimed reefs and outcrops, sparking international concern it could impose military controls over the entire area.
The US does not take sides in the territorial disputes but has asserted the importance of keeping sea and air routes open.
It has sent US bombers and warships on patrol close to the Chinese construction activity in recent months, infuriating Beijing.
Lieutenant-General John Toolan, commander of US Marine Corps forces in the Pacific, told reporters in Manila the exercises would help the allies improve maritime security and maintain regional stability.
"Our alliance is strong. The United States is committed to this relationship and these are not empty words.... peace in Southeast Asia depends on our cooperation," Toolan added.
The exercises come ahead of a decision this year by a United Nations-backed tribunal on a legal challenge by Manila to China's territorial claims.
The Philippines is also preparing to host US troops at five bases under a defence pact born out of US President Barack Obama's plan to reassert American influence in the Pacific.
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