The Chinese and Philippines governments recently announced a three-year project to gather petroleum resources data from the group of more than 100 islets, reefs and atolls in the South China Sea.

In a statement Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said, “We are very concerned at the information from the signing in Beijing on September 1, 2004 between China and the Philippines without any consultation with the other parties involved.”

“Vietnam has asked China and the Philippines to provide information on this agreement [and urges] China and the Philippines to abide by the agreement to avoid any actions that may heighten tensions.

“As a signatory to the code of conduct on the South China Sea signed between ASEAN and China in November 2002, Vietnam has committed with relevant parties to implement the code towards the maintenance of peace and stability. We urge all parties to seriously implement the agreement,” added Le.

Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim sovereignty over all or part of the chain.