evidence: A largely unpopulated archipelago administered by China but claimed by Vietnam, the Paracel Islands have become the flashpoint in an increasingly aggressive territorial dispute between the two neighbours, ideological allies as fellow communists but with stark divisions. China’s Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig is drilling between the Paracels. Vietnam says the vessel is within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. China says it is operating within its waters. [...] "China has irrefutable sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and the seas nearby. We demand that Vietnam and the Philippines stop any behaviour that picks quarrels and causes trouble . . . and not do anything to complicate or magnify the dispute."