A Chinese research ship and five accompanying vessels remained in Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone near the South China Sea today, Friday, after Vietnam requested the ships to leave the area. Ray Powell, who leads the project, stated that "the Chinese ship (Xiang Yang Hong 10) began its activities in Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone on May 7, representing the most serious intrusion into that area since 2019," describing "China's behavior and Vietnam's response as concerning."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning asserted that "China has sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and its adjacent waters, and thus holds rights to the relevant maritime areas." She mentioned that "China continued to communicate with the concerned parties and wishes to work with them to jointly 'protect peace and stability in the South China Sea'," adding that "China will certainly protect its legal rights and interests."
