Global tech giant Apple has added Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos, part of Vietnam’s territory in the East Vietnam Sea, to its Apple Maps application following the Vietnamese authorities’ request.

Le Quang Tu Do, head of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information (ABEI), under the Ministry of Information and Communications, recently said he received Apple’s reply related to the authority’s request for adding Vietnam’s Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagos to its map application.

Apple admitted and corrected its error by making the addition to its Apple Maps app, from which the islands will be visible when users zoom in the map, according to ABEI.

Apple Maps is a default application that is pre-installed in Apple devices such as Mac computers, iPhones, and iPads.

Earlier on December 1, ABEI issued a dispatch to Apple requesting the addition after receiving feedback from Vietnamese users and media about the absence of the Spratlys and Paracels from the map of Vietnam in the Apple Maps app.

A day later, the tech giant replied that the non-display of the two groups of islands was due to a technical error, and pledged to correct it within one to two days.    

By Monday afternoon, users of the Apple Maps app could see the two archipelagos in the map of Vietnam, Tu said.  

Regarding Truong Sa and Hoang Sa, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly reiterated that Vietnam has full historical evidence and legal foundations to affirm its sovereignty over these islands in accordance with international law.

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