Hanoi artillery report brings Beijing reproval

China emphasized its opposition on Wednesday to Vietnam's military deployments on islands that the country has illegally occupied in the South China Sea, following the reported deployment of rocket launchers by Vietnam on several of the Nansha Islands.

The move, which shows a further stage of Hanoi's militarization of the Nansha Islands, will have a negative impact on regional peace and stability, observers said.

Intelligence shows that Hanoi has shipped the launchers to five bases in the Nansha Islands in recent months, Reuters reported on Wednesday.