(BGF) – US Secretary John Kerry expressed “strong concerns” over recent disputes in the South China Sea between China and Vietnam and called China’s introduction of an oil rig and numerous government vessels in waters disputed with Vietnam was “provocative”, as BBC reported. In another meeting with the Singaporean foreign minister, Mr Kerry also called the Chinese move an “aggressive act”.

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US warns Beijing on South China Sea tensions

May 13, 2014

(Photo Credit: BBC News)

The US has warned China that moving a drilling rig into seas disputed with Vietnam was “provocative”.

In a telephone call, US Secretary of State John Kerry told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the US had “strong concerns” over recent developments.

Last week, Chinese and Vietnamese ships clashed over the drilling rig that China has placed in waters near the disputed Paracel Islands.

China and Manila are also at odds over overlapping territorial claims.

Beijing claims a U-shaped swathe of the South China Sea that covers areas other South East Asian nations say are their territory.

The issue has been rumbling in recent years amid an increasingly assertive stance from China over its claims.

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