http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ju ... y-exercise
Vietnam holds live-fire exercises as territorial dispute with China escalatesBeijing warns other regional powers not to become involved in row over South China Sea islands and surrounding waters
Vietnam holds live-fire exercises as territorial dispute with China escalates
Beijing warns other regional powers not to become involved in row over South China Sea islands and surrounding waters
Tania Branigan in Beijing and agencies guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 14 June 2011
Vietnamese sailors train with a machine gun on Phan Vinh Island in the Spratly archipelago, which is at the centre of a territorial dispute with China. Photograph: Vietnam News Agency/AFP/Getty
China has warned other countries not to become involved in an escalating sea border dispute with Vietnam that reflects concern over Beijing's increasing international power and confidence.
Experts say the stand-off between China and Vietnam - two of the six powers laying claim to a number of islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea - is the worst for more than two decades. Vietnam held live-fire exercises off its coast on Monday, in what analysts said was a response without precedent.