After China introduced its new e-passports containing the illegal 9-dash
line, many scholars and officials from Vietnam and the Philippines strongly
objected. One even said ASEAN should deny entry to Chinese citizens who hold
such passports.
Juris Doctor Le Minh Phieu of
Vietnam’s East Sea Research Fund said that the 9-dash line violates
international law, especially the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea –
UNCLOS. The inclusion of the map in Chinese new e-passports indicates that
China wants to propagandize about its expansionism and illegal requests in the
East Sea.
Dr. Phieu said if Vietnamese
agencies stamp on those passports and allow Chinese nationals holding such
passports to enter, China then could claim this as Vietnam’s implicit
recognition of its illegitimate territorial demands.
So, Vietnam should cooperate with
other ASEAN countries to find an effective means of protest. ASEAN countries,
especially those falling victim to China’s expansionist policy, need to deny
entry to Chinese citizens who hold such passports, he added.
For Duong Danh Dy, former
Vietnamese Consul General in China, this latest deed is “a hegemonic act”.
Euphemistically speaking, it is an act lacking goodwill when China always
claims it needs to solve East Sea disputes via peaceful measures.
“I am not surprised at this and
they will do more. This act is unprecedented”.
According to Le Vinh Truong, of
East Sea Research Fund, China is carrying out a series of activities to fortify
their claims in the East Sea. They have printed the 9-dotted line on their
maps, on tourist, scientific publications, and now passports.
“China is carrying out
psychological warfare”, Truong told Tuoi Tre Newspaper. They tried to brainwash
their citizens with wrong ideas, wrong facts, repeating them again and again in
an effort to turn them into the “truth”, he added.
On an official note, Vietnamese
foreign spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi affirmed in Hanoi on November 22 that the
act violated Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes as
well as its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over related waters
in the East Sea.
Representatives from the
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry have met with representatives of the Chinese
Embassy in Hanoi to hand a diplomatic note requesting China to annul the
contents printed in the passport.
Contrary to the spirit of DOC:
Philippines
“The Philippines does not accept
the validity of the nine-dash lines that amount to an excessive declaration of
maritime space in violation of international law,” Foreign Affairs Secretary
Albert del Rosario was quoted by the Manila Standard Today as saying.
Del Rosario said Beijing’s action
was in violation of the spirit of the Declaration on the Code of Conduct.
“The action of China is contrary
to the spirit of the DOC …, particularly on the provision calling on parties to
refrain from actions that complicate and escalate the dispute”.
Meanwhile, China's foreign
ministry replied that the new passports met international standards.
"The passports' maps with
their outlines of China are not targeting a specific country. China is willing
to actively communicate with the relevant countries and promote the healthy
development of Sino-foreign personnel exchanges," it said.
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