China has unveiled its new official map that includes a “10-dash line” claiming nearly all of the East Vietnam Sea as part of China’s territorial waters.

>> Chinese tourists caught with 9-dash maps in Vietnam >> Vietnam stops using school software with illicit 9-dash line >> Vietnam removes Chinese online game with 9-dash map >> Vietnam invalidates new Chinese passportsXinhua News Agency publicized the illicit map on June 25, saying that the islands in the East Vietnam Sea are shown clearer in the new map than in China’s traditional maps. This map, which was issued by Hunan Map Publishing House, shows a “10-dash line” that deeply encroaches on the territorial waters of four countries including the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Vietnam. With the illegal boundary line, China puts nearly all of the East Vietnam Sea, including Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, under its sovereignty.  Previously, China has issued many maps showing ‘the cow’s tongue line’ [also called the nine-dash line] that claims about 80 percent of the East Vietnam Sea. Such maps have been rejected by Vietnam and many international experts, as they are not based on any legal foundation and violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Recently, Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio of the Philippine Supreme Court pointed out that China’s traditional maps, whether drawn by Chinese or foreigners, do not feature Truong Sa and Hoang Sa.   All ancient maps of China only show Hainan Island as the country’s southernmost tip, he said. China's claim to a 'historical right' to the waters in the East Vietnam Sea covered by the 9-dash line is utterly groundless and has no basis under international law, ABS-CBN News quoted Carpio as saying. The line was first introduced in China in 1947 and Beijing presented it to the United Nations in 2009. The Philippines has taken legal action against China at an international tribunal to protest the illegal nine-dash line included in many maps of China. As there is no historical and legal evidence to prove the validity of the line, China has not dared to face the Philippines in the lawsuit.

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