The post describing the unusually hot weather in China by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) no longer includes a map featuring the "cow's tongue" line in the East Sea. The new map image has been cropped close to mainland China.

Previously, on August 23, WMO used a map with the unreasonable "nine-dash line" claim in the East Sea. This is the map it took from the China Meteorological Administration. Below the post, thousands of people expressed anger and posted hundreds of comments asking WMO to remove this map.

The "cow's tongue", "U-shaped" or "nine-dash" line are different names that scholars around the world use to refer to China's absurd claim to 80% of the East Sea. 

The WMO’s move was followed by a protest that was officially made by spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a press conference on August 25.

“Vietnam demands that countries and organizations respect Vietnam’s sovereign rights over Hoang Sa (Paracels) and Truong Sa (Spratlys) archipelagoes, and adjacent waters in the East Sea and remove and alter any offensive information,” she said. 

Hang said that Vietnam has repeatedly rejected the so-called nine-dash line as well as maritime claims contrary to international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Vietnam believes that all forms of disseminating content and images infringing on Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes, as well as national sovereignty and jurisdiction over relevant waters in the East Sea established in accordance with UNCLOS, is null and void.

According to Hang, representatives of Vietnam’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and other international organizations in Geneva discussed this matter with representatives of the WMO.

The WMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation in atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics.

Tran Thuong