Tensions between China and Vietnam continued to escalate yesterday as both nations traded accusations over the sinking of a Vietnamese vessel near a controversial oil rig in a disputed area of the South China Sea.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry lodged a protest with the Chinese embassy in Hanoi, claiming a Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese boat on Monday.

But the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said the Vietnamese boat went into a restricted area near the oil rig in the Paracel Islands and rammed a Chinese vessel. The Vietnamese boat then sank.

The latest spat came after deadly anti-China protests swept across Vietnam, triggered by China’s establishment of the oil rig earlier this month.

… Li Mingjiang , an associate professor at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the latest incident could help Hanoi gain international support as Beijing had refused to move the oil rig away.

“China will inevitably need to respond,” he said. “And this will help Vietnam gain credit for its public relations in the international arena.”