The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has removed the “nine-dash line” from
a heatwave map posted on its Facebook page.
The UN organization on Saturday edited its post about the ongoing heatwaves in
China and removed the “nine-dash line” while only showing the mainland part of the
country.
This call was taken after Vietnam had asked WMO to remove the infamous nine-dash line to respect its sovereignty in the East Sea, VnExpress Newspaper reported.
At a press meeting on Thursday, Vietnam Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang called for WMO’s attention on the matter and dismissed the “so-called nine-dash line.”
“Vietnam has repeatedly dismissed the so-called nine-dash line as well as other maritime statements that go against international laws and the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982),” she said.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson said nations and organizations around the world must “remove and edit unsuitable content” that violates Vietnam’s sovereignty.
All forms of propaganda and distribution of content and images that violate Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracels) islands, as well
as Vietnam’s jurisdiction over the relevent waters, are “invalid,” she was quoted as saying by the Vietnamese newspaper.
The nine-dash line, at various times also referred to as the ten-dash line and the eleven-dash line, has been used by China to illegally claim huge swathes of the South
China Sea, known in Vietnam as the East Sea.
