Vietnam asks World Meteorological Organization to remove ‘nine-dash line’

The Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meet Thursday that “Vietnam has repeatedly dismissed the so-called nine-dash line as well as other maritime statements that go against international laws and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982).”

She said countries and organizations must “remove and edit unsuitable content” that violates Vietnam’s sovereignty.

All forms of propaganda and distribution of content and images that violate Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracels) islands, as well as Vietnam’s jurisdiction over the relevent waters, are “invalid,” she said.

Hang made the statements after the World Meteorological Organization published on its Facebook page on Tuesday a map of heatwaves in China that includes the “nine-dash line.” The line has been used by China to illegally claim huge swathes of the South China Sea, known in Vietnam as the East Sea. It has been internationally condemned and rejected.

She said representatives of Vietnam’s mission at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other organizations at Geneva have discussed the matter with WMO.