Vietnam halts South China Sea oil drilling project under pressure from Beijing

By James Pearson and Henning Gloystein HANOI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Vietnam has halted an oil drilling project in the “Red Emperor” block off its southeastern coast licensed to Spanish energy firm Repsol following pressure from China, three sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday. It would be the second time in less than a year that Vietnam has had to suspend a major oil development in the busy South China Sea waterway under pressure from China. A source wi