Vietnam protests China’s provision of the online mapping service named Map
World, which shows the nine-dotted line in the East Sea,
said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Nga on January
26.

Nga said that the Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and
Mapping’s launch of the Map World service, which maintains the nine-dotted line in the East Sea, seriously infringes upon Vietnamese sovereignty over Hoang Sa
(Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos, sovereign rights and national
jurisdiction over Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zones
within 200 nautical miles. It also violates the 1982 United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea and goes against the Declaration on the Conduct of
Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed between ASEAN and China.

Vietnam opposes China’s act and requests the Chinese side to
promptly remove from the map service and all data and information that violate
Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and national jurisdiction over Hoang Sa
(Paracel), Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos and the waters of Vietnam and to
abide by the common perception of leaders of the two countries on maintaining
peace and stability, and refraining from complicating or expanding disputes in
the East Sea, said a spokesperson.

L.Thu