Tensions increased between Vietnam and China over exploration in the South China Sea, after China's state media reported on 2 August that the research vessel Tan Bao Hao had surveyed the sea's southwest basin in late July, with the aim of studying tectonic activity. Vietnam's foreign ministry demanded that China "cease and refrain" from further such acts. The two countries - and other neighbouring nations such as the Philippines - are in dispute over their claims to potentially oil-rich islands in the region. China's recent funding boost for deep-sea exploration is largely motivated by the nation's desire to find oil and minerals (see Nature 466,166; 2010).
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