This oil related news is a little different as it looks like China are offering drilling rights (blocks) for oil companies to drill in what is really Vietnamese waters. WOW. It isn't really theirs to offer the rights. No wonder Vietnam are pithed off.
"One of China's 3 largest state-owned oil companies is looking to cash in on vast energy reserves underneath the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea.
China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOCC) has announced that it is offering 9 offshore blocks covering an area of more than 160,124 square kilometers for joint exploration and development with foreign companies.
CNOCC announced the auction in its website, which shows maps of the blocs being offered.
The areas eyed for exploration are closer to the shores of Vietnam than the Philippines.
CNOOC said foreign companies interested in the project will be allowed to access and buy the company's current data on the blocks.
The auction has triggered protests from Vietnam, which called the project "illegal."
The Vietnamese foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the blocks "lie entirely within Vietnam's 200-mile exclusive economic zone."
China, however, is unfazed.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei described the project as a "normal business activity" that allegedly follows "Chinese laws and international practices.""
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/...philippine-sea