Officials in Vietnam are investigating the Chinese milk tea brand Chagee, which is set to open its first store in the country, for using images of the so-called “nine-dash line” map on its mobile app.
The news comes just days after a popular children’s doll was pulled from store shelves in Vietnam because of markings that appeared to resemble the map Beijing uses to back its claims to nearly the entirety of the South China Sea.
The investigation into Chagee was announced on the website of the Ho Chi Minh City Communist Party Committee.
Any violations involving the provision, use or transmission of information and images of Vietnam’s map that infringe upon national sovereignty will be addressed and handled in accordance with the law, said a post attributed to Tran Binh Thien, deputy chief inspector of the Department of Culture and Sports in the city.
The department will also investigate information on social media related to Chagee’s badge featuring the image of President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum but with false captions, Lao Dong newspaper reported.
Chagee this week took down all its advertisements and branding on the exterior of its Ho Chi Minh City store ahead of its scheduled launch, following public backlash over the map, according to a report on Vietnamnet Global.
Vietnam aggressively monitors all references to the demarcation known as the nine-dash line. The movie Barbie was banned from cinemas last year due to a scene that shows the map. The nation also asked Snapchat to remove an image of the disputed map on its mobile app.
The Vietnamese unit of the milk tea brand did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea and backs this up with a 1947 map that shows vague dashes — the nine-dash line — looping down to a point about 1,800 kilometres south of Hainan Island.
Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area, and have sparred with China over where the boundaries fall.
An inernational tribunal ruled in 2016, in a case brought by the Philippines, that the Chinese claims had no basis in historical fact. Beijing has ignored the ruling and continues to build military installations and other structures on atolls and reefs in many locations.
