BANGKOK – Authorities in Vietnam’s business capital are investigating a Chinese milk tea brand for using a controversial map of Beijing’s disputed South China Sea territorial claims in its marketing material, state media reported.
On Thursday, the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee’s Propaganda and Public Relations Department held a news conference to discuss “public outrage” after Chagee’s first Vietnam store put an image of the nine-dash line on its mobile app, VietNamNet said.
The line – otherwise known as the cow-tongue line – stakes out most of the South China Sea to back China’s disputed claim over the waters. An international arbitration tribunal, in a case brought by the Philippines in 2016, ruled that China’s claim to “historic rights” over the territory was unlawful. Beijing declared the ruling “null and void” and refused to recognize it.
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Culture Department Deputy Chief Inspector Tran Binh Thien said on Thursday that he was working with city police to investigate Chagee Vietnam Company Limited over its use of the disputed map, and Vietnamese media claims that the brand disseminated “unlawful information.”
He said organizations should avoid potentially illegal marketing by using only government-sanctioned maps in their promotional materials. He also warned individuals of the risks of sharing nine-dash images on the internet.
Responding to the controversy, Chagee took down all its advertising and branding for the Ho Chi Minh City tea shop, ahead of its launch, VietNamNet said. Phone calls to the company’s Vietnam operation went unanswered.
Earlier this month, Vietnam ordered officials to confiscate a Chinese-made doll with an image printed on its cheek resembling the nine-dash line. The toy, known as “Baby Three,” had been sold in Vietnam at sidewalk stores and online shops since last May, according to Vietnamese media.
Last year, the Hollywood movie “Barbie” was banned in Vietnam because authorities said it included a cartoonish map showing China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Edited by Stephen Wright and Taejun Kang.