General Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Van Tuan has stated that Vietnam welcomes visitors across the world to the country, however, they must abide by Vietnamese law.

At Hoa Lu historical - cultural relic site

He told the media on May 15 in response to a group of Chinese tourists wearing T-shirts featuring the illicit “nine-dash line” map that suggests China’s groundless territorial claims in the East Sea while entering Nha Trang city, the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

It was not until they passed immigration procedures that authorities realised their clothes featured the map. 

Tuan urged localities to direct tourists, inbound and outbound travel agencies abide by legal regulations, preventing similar occurrences and impacts on tourism cooperation between the two countries. 

He took the occasion to ask tour operators to learn from the lesson and better monitor visitors. 

In 2014, a Chinese couple were caught attempting to bring bundles of world maps showing the illicit “nine-dash line” into Vietnam through Moc Bai border gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh. 

The “nine-dash line” is a widely rejected cow tongue-shaped line illegally created by China to claim its sovereignty over about 80 percent of the East Sea, including Vietnam’s Paracel (Hoang Sa) and Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelagoes. 

Vietnam has consistently rejected China’s territorial claims as they are not based on any legal foundation and violate the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.-VNA