Vietnam prohibits car maps violating its territorial integrity

By Anh Tu February 12, 2020 | 09:03 pm PT

The navigation app on a car found in Vietnam showing the nine-dash line. Photo by VnExpress/Manh Duc.

Companies importing cars with navigation systems in which Vietnamese maps are not accurate will hereafter have their licenses suspended and then revoked.

A regulation to this effect was issued by the government on Tuesday, and it also applies to companies temporarily bringing cars into the country for purposes other than selling them.

Violators have six months to "completely rectify" their error, and will have their suspension lifted if they do. Failure to do so within the six-month period will see their license revoked, and they have to return their license to the Ministry of Trade within five days.

But it is not clear how a business can "completely rectify" their error.

Last October Volkswagen Vietnam imported an SUV with a map showing China’s fraudulent nine-dash line for display at the Vietnam Motor Show. The vehicle was confiscated by customs, who fined Volkswagen Vietnam and its importer unspecified amounts.

The infamous and controversial nine-dash line is a demarcation that claims 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, for China.

It has been vehemently opposed by the international community.

Apart from violating Vietnam’s sovereignty, it also disdains claims by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Last year Vietnam also banned online game Onmyoji developed by Chinese firm NetEase and stopped the screening of Hollywood animation movie "Abominable" for showing the nine-dash line.