Chinese Ship Involved in Standoff Returns to Waters Off Vietnam

  • Vietnam calls on countries to maintain peace in the region
  • Beijing says Vietnam’s claims to the islands is ‘invalid’
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A Chinese vessel at the center of a months-long standoff with Vietnamese ships last year when it entered the Southeast Asian nation’s exclusive economic zone has returned to the disputed waters.

The incident last year involving a vessel called the Haiyang Dizhi 8 drew criticism from the U.S. and the European Union after undertaking a seismic survey of oil-and-gas blocks near Beijing’s disputed “nine-dash line” for about four months starting in July. That spurred Vietnamese authorities to dispatch its own ships to resist the vessel and several coast guard escorts.