Vietnam authorities have ordered a popular Chinese novel to be withdrawn from publication and sale after discovering inaccuracies regarding Vietnam's territory in the book.

The fantasy series Daomu Biji (Grave Robbers’ Chronicles) was written by Kennedy Xu, aka Nan Pai San Shu. The first book was published in Vietnamese last year.

It tells the adventures of Chinese grave robbers searching for treasure inside ancient tombs at many locations, including Tien Nu Island, which is the name of an island of the Paracel Islands, and That Lien, which is the name China uses to call a group of islands of the Spratly Islands.

Officials also noted that the first book was illegally published by Bach Viet, a local company, without any publishing permit.

Thoi Dai Publishing House, which was named on the book cover, said that it had never licensed the book.

China and four ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei are embroiled in sovereignty disputes over the resource-rich East Sea, internationally known as the South China Sea, with China being the biggest claimant.

Thanhnienews