China says Vietnam should stop oil exploration in parts of South China Sea

BEIJING (AP) - China says Vietnam should immediately stop unilateral oil exploration in parts of the South China Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the statement in response to a question about Vietnam's state-owned oil and gas company's accusation that Chinese fishing boats sabotaged a seismic survey ship on Friday.

Mr Hong told reporters on Thursday: "Vietnam's allegation is inconsistent with facts."

He said the Chinese boats were carrying out "completely justified" fishing activities in an overlapping area between China's Hainan island and Vietnam and were "unreasonably expelled by Vietnam".