Vietnam Opposes New China Map Claiming South China Sea Islands

(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam said China's official map released this week violates its sovereignty over the Spratly and Paracel Islands and jurisdiction over its waters, according to a statement posted on the nation's government news website.

China's sovereignty and maritime claims based on the nine-dotted line on the map are “invalid,” said the statement, which cited Pham Thu Hang, the spokesperson for Vietnam's foreign affairs ministry. Vietnam “resolutely opposes all China's claims in the South China Sea based on the dotted line,” Hang added in the statement. 

Other countries have also rejected the map. India on Tuesday took issue with a part of the map that shows sections of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh under China's control. And the Philippines said it doesn't recognize China's expansive claims in the South China Sea.

When asked about the map at a regular press briefing Wednesday in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said his government hoped the “relevant sides can remain objective and calm and refrain from overinterpreting.” China released the map so publishers, companies and others have an official version to reference. Foreign firms sometimes run into trouble with the Chinese government over how they use maps. 

China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea and backs up its claim with a 1947 map that shows vague dashes — the nine-dash line —- looping down to a point about 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) south of Hainan Island. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area, and have sparred with China over where the boundaries fall.

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