Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lê Thị Thu Hằng addressed reporters during the press briefing held in Hà Nội on Thursday. — Photo from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

HÀ NỘI — Any content containing information that violates Việt Nam’s territory and sovereignty is “null and void,” spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng commented at a press briefing held in Thursday in Hà Nội.

She was referring to the map used in a social media post by the World Meteorological Organisation which contained the infamous ‘nine dash line’ map that represented China’s expansive claims over much of the waters, islands, reefs and other geological features in the South China Sea.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration, a Hague-based international tribunal, has in 2016 ruled that Beijing’s nine dash line has no legal basis in the landmark Philippines v. China case, however China has refused to recognise the authority of this court as well as its decisions.

“Việt Nam has on numerous occasions rejected the so-called nine dash line in the South China Sea along with other claims that go against the United Nations Charter on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS),” Hằng said.

“Việt Nam is of the opinion that all forms of propagation of images and contents that infringe upon Việt Nam’s sovereignty over the Spratly and the Paracel archipelagos, as well as Việt Nam’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over relevant waters in the South China Sea as established by the 1982 UNCLOS, are null and void,” she added.

The spokesperson said Việt Nam demands that countries and organisations respect Việt Nam’s maritime sovereignty over the two archipelagos of Spratly and Paracel and relevant waters, and remove or amend offending contents.

The mission of Việt Nam to the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva has had discussions with the World Meteorological Organisation on this issue, Hằng told reporters. — VNS