Vietnam again warned China not to interfere with its marine research vessels in the East Sea after a second confrontation within three weeks.

The latest incident has reportedly prompted Hanoi to warn shipping off its coast that it will perform live firing exercises next week.

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said a Chinese fishing boat, later joined by two Chinese maritime surveillance ships, intentionally cut a cable being towed by Viking II, a Vietnamese seismic survey ship operating well within Vietnam's 200-mile economic maritime zone.

The Chinese vessel became entangled in cables and Viking II, operated by the national Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group, stopped operating and fired off a warning flare. The Chinese vessel was eventually freed with help from the two other Chinese vessels.

"The (Chinese) act was absolutely intentional, well-designed and well-prepared," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga told a news conference in Hanoi.

"It seriously violated Viet Nam's sovereignty and runs counter to the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea."

She said the two incidents weren't in keeping with a common understanding of peaceful coexistence in the East Sea.

"China's systematic acts were aimed at turning an undisputed region into one of dispute, to carry out its ambition to make China's nine-dash line claim a reality," Nga said. "This is something that Viet Nam cannot accept."

China has begun issuing maps with a dashed line that signifies most the disputed islands, including the potentially mineral-rich Spratly Islands, are Chinese territory.

Viet Nam lodged a formal complaint over the Viking II incident to the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi and compensation will be sought on behalf of the national oil company, she said.

A diplomatic war of words broke out in May when Hanoi accused a Chinese marine surveillance vessel of cutting the cables of Vietnam's Binh Minh 02 seismic exploration vessel.

Vietnam said the incident took place 80 miles off its south-central coast -- well within its territorial waters and around 370 miles south of China's Hainan Island. But China rejected the allegations.

The latest incidents raise tensions in the East Sea. In early May China said it will beef up marine patrols by at least 10 percent in the face of what it claimed were increasing incursions into its territorial waters. By the end of the year, around 1,000 recruits will be added to the 9,000 already employed by China's marine service, Beijing said.

The main issue is ownership of the Spratly Islands. Apart from China and Vietnam, the Spratly Islands, or some of them, are claimed by Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.

In March, the Philippines officially complained to China that Chinese patrol boats allegedly harassed a Philippine oil exploration vessel in disputed waters near the Spratlys.

There are reports -- unconfirmed by the government -- that Vietnam's navy will conduct live firing exercises around Hon Ong island, about 25 miles off the coast from Quang Nam province on Monday.

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