Vietnam does not recognize any maritime claims of China based on its so-called "nine-dash line" in the East Sea, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang

Hang made the statement on March 20 in response to reporters’ queries about Vietnam’s reaction to the publication of a Chinese map with the “nine-dash line” by some social media accounts registered by Chinese representative agencies abroad.

Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue is clear and consistent that it has sufficient legal grounds and historic evidence affirming its sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, as well as its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over territorial waters defined in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS), Hang said.