![A Vietnamese floating guard station on the Spratly islands. [Reuters]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201010/r652678_4602965.jpg "A Vietnamese floating guard station on the Spratly islands. [Reuters]")
Vietnam has held live-fire naval drills in the South China Sea amid tense relations with China over the sovereignty of two groups of islands.
A long-standing dispute between the communist neighbours over two potentially oil-rich archipelagos has erupted again following recent sea confrontations.
The stand-off over the Spratly and Paracel islands have caused relations between the two countries to sink to their lowest point in years.
A first barrage of live gunfire, lasting about four hours, took place on Monday morning near Hon Ong island, says a naval officer based in the central city of Danang.
AFP reports the officer says the drill, about 40 kilometres off Quang Nam province in central Vietnam, involved gunfire and not missiles.
The drills are inside the area Vietnam claims as its 200 nautical mile economic zone.
In May, Vietnam accused Chinese surveillance vessels of cutting the exploration cables of an oil survey ship inside the area.
On Thursday, Vietnam alleged a similar incident in the zone, saying a Chinese fishing boat rammed the cables of another oil survey ship in a "premeditated" attack.
Beijing countered by warning Vietnam to halt all activities that it says violate China's sovereignty in the disputed area.
The United States said it was troubled by tensions triggered by the maritime dispute and called for a peaceful resolution.
The live-fire exercise zone is about 250 kilometres from the Paracels and almost 1,000 kilometres from the Spratlys, the two archipelagos which are claimed by both nations and which straddle strategic shipping lanes.
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