The South China sea oil rush

India's initial response to China's demarche asserting that Beijing's permission was necessary for Indian companies to explore oil and natural gas in the South China Sea was singularly inept. To recapitulate, ONGC Videsh (OVL) had signed a contract with Vietnamese authorities to explore blocks 127 and 128 off the Spratly Islands, claimed by China (both the PRC and Taiwan) and Vietnam. The PRC official spokesman, Jiang Yu, reacted on September 15, claiming indisputable sovereignty over these 'Nan Sha' islands while hoping that the South China Sea dispute would not be subjected to involvement from any foreign country.

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