China has sent four more oil rigs into the South China Sea in a sign that Beijing is stepping up its exploration for oil and gas in the tense region, less than two months after it positioned a giant drilling platform in waters claimed by Vietnam.
The announcement comes at a time when many countries in Asia are nervous at Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the potentially energy-rich waters, where sovereignty over countless islands and reefs is in dispute.
Coordinates posted on the website of China’s Maritime Safety Administration showed the Nanhai number 2 and 5 rigs had been deployed roughly between China’s southern Guangdong province and the Pratas Islands, which are occupied by Taiwan. The Nanhai 4 rig was towed to waters close to the Chinese coast.
Earlier this week, the maritime body gave coordinates for a fourth rig, the Nanhai 9, which would be positioned just outside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone by Friday.
Wang Ching-hsiu, deputy director of Taiwan’s Land Administration Department, said Taipei claimed an exclusive economic zone around the Pratas Islands, but declined to comment on the rig deployments.
