A Chinese research ship and its escort, which operated for nearly a month in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, left those waters on Monday night, vessel-tracking experts said, just after high-level U.S.-China talks.
Chinese vessel Xiang Yang Hong 10 began sailing in Vietnam's EEZ on May 7, at times flanked by a dozen ships, and regularly crossing gas and oil fields operated by Russian companies, according to vessel-tracking data.
On Monday, after U.S. and China senior officials held talks in Beijing that both parties called constructive, the Chinese vessel and its escort of more than half a dozen ships began their journey back to China's Hainan island, leaving Vietnam's EEZ around midnight.
