(VOVworld) – Nearly 1,000 Vietnamese in Vientiane, Laos on Wednesday protested China’s illegal placing of oil rig Haiyang 981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

Vietnamese ambassador Nguyen Manh Hung said that China’s deployment of the rig and armed vessels in Vietnamese waters was a dangerous move, which breached Vietnam’s maritime sovereignty and ran counter to bilateral agreements made between the two countries on settling maritime issues peacefully in line with international law.

Representatives of Phat Tich Pagoda, the Vietnamese People’s Association in Vientiane, the Vietnam Business Association and the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Laos expressed their deep concern over the East Sea situation and China’s actions. They hoped that the Vietnamese party and state would take resolute measures to defend national sovereignty.