The Grab's map showing Chinese names of Việt Nam's islands. — Photo from VTC News

HÀ NỘI — Ride-hailing app Grab has apologised for the use of a map showing incorrect information regarding Việt Nam's sea and island territory.

For the Trường Sa (Spratlys) archipelago, other than geological features like Sơn Ca and Sinh Tồn that are named in Vietnamese, some others are Chinese and English names.

Grab's map also indicated Việt Nam's Chữ Thập (Fiery Cross Reef) as being under the management of "Nansha District" which is a Chinese administrative unit.

Việt Nam has on many occasions reiterated its full legal basis and historical evidence to assert sovereignty over Hoàng Sa (Paracel) and Trường Sa (Spratly) island chains.

Grab has deleted the inappropriate information as of Monday afternoon and said is working with the map providers (which are open-sourced OpenMapTitles and OpenStreetMap) on the issue.

The Singapore-based company said the incident does not reflect Grab's respect for the country and people of Việt Nam and apologised for concerns it may have raised.

However, while the Chinese names have been removed, as of Monday afternoon, the map used by Grab lists Việt Nam's Thị Tứ Island as Kalayaan, the Philippines' name of a municipality.

The island is subject to competing claims from Việt Nam, China, Chinese Taipei, and the Philippines, with the latter currently in control.

Early Monday morning, clothing company Yody also published its statement apologising for the omission of Việt Nam's two archipelagos Hoàng Sa (Paracel) and Trường Sa in its promotional videos and images in celebration of the brand's 9th anniversary on Facebook and its website on Sunday.

The map in question shows the locations of the brand's 230 stores nationwide.

The incident quickly resulted in angry comments from users and calls for boycotting.

The communication department had not properly vetted the contents of the videos, Yody said.

Yody said in a statement: "As a Vietnamese business, established by Vietnamese people, we are fully aware that this mistake cannot be justified. Therefore, we seek to seriously listen to all feedback and suggestions from news agencies and communication authorities to avoid repeating similar errors in the future."

It said it was committed to respecting the Constitution of Việt Nam, abiding by Vietnamese laws, and having a clear awareness of Việt Nam's territorial sovereignty, the company's statement reads.

The company has also made changes to all of the offending media products.

The comment section on the statement that is published on Facebook is heavily moderated. — VNS