Authorities in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang have requested competent agencies strictly punish those hotels and restaurants that use signboards written entirely in Chinese, as that is a violation of local regulations. The request was made Wednesday at the 15th conference of the Da Nang City Party Committee in which many participants protested that so many Chinese signs are on display at many eateries, restaurants, and hotels in two coastal districts Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son.

Huynh Van Hung, director of the Da Nang Television and Broadcasting Station, said that there is a relatively large community of Chinese people living in the two districts. 

Along with the development of the community, many hotels, restaurants and other eateries have used signboards with contents written only in Chinese.

Hung proposed that the city authorities take measures to handle this issue, as the use of such signs violates local regulations. 

The Vietnamese law mandates that any sign must be presented in Vietnamese, and whenever foreign languages are used, they must be placed below the Vietnamese equivalents.

A representative of the Da Nang War Veteran Association told the meeting that many members of the association have voiced their worry about the phenomenon in which the Chinese language are used so rampantly in signboards.

After hearing the above information, Tran Tho, Secretary of Party Committee, said, “It is un acceptable for such hospitality businesses to create a ‘Chinatown’ in the city.”

He directed concerned agencies to immediately inspect and strictly penalize all signboard regulation violators.

The city Department of Culture, Sports and Culture is scheduled to coordinate with the authorities of Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son Districts to take photos of signboards written in Chinese today, April 3, to form a basis for crackdowns on the offense.