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

At Hoa Lu historical - cultural relic site (Source: VNA)

He told the media on 15 May 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 also asked 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 Viet Nam 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% of the East Sea, including Viet Nam’s Paracel (Hoang Sa) and Spratly (Truong Sa) archipelagoes.

Viet Nam 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.

(Source: VNA)