Vietnam accused a Chinese energy company of operating in its waters illegally, potentially ratcheting up tensions further between the two countries. On Saturday, China’s Maritime Safety Administration disclosed the location of China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s HD-981 oil rig. The area is in part of the South China Sea that Vietnam claims as its “exclusive economic zone,” said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh. “All activities by a foreign entity in Vietnamese waters without Vietnam’s consent are illegal and invalid, and Vietnam strongly protests [such activities],” Mr. Binh said in a statement posted on the government’s website late Sunday. The area the Cnooc rig is operating in is “only 120 nautical miles from Vietnam’s shore,” the statement added. At a daily press briefing on Monday, China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the rig was in Chinese waters. “As we understand it, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration issued […]