Chinese maritime officials on Friday removed an online notice giving the location of a $1 billion deepwater oil rig in the South China Sea two days after issuing it, following a warning from Vietnam about drilling in disputed waters.
Vietnam closely tracks the movement of the oil rig, which in mid-2014 caused the worst diplomatic rift between the neighbors in decades, when China parked it for 10 weeks in waters Vietnam considers its own.
Annual trade between the communist neighbors exceeds $60 billion but anti-China sentiment is strong in Vietnam, where people are embittered over what many see as a history of Chinese bullying and territorial infringements in the South China Sea.