Vietnam refuses to stamp new Chinese passport

[hokkien]

Tuesday, Nov 27, 2012
HANOI - Vietnamese border guards said Tuesday they were refusing to stamp entry visas into controversial new Chinese passports which feature a map of Beijing's claim to almost all of the South China Sea.

Vietnam has said the computer-chipped passports violate its sovereignty and has demanded Beijing withdraw the documents, which show the contested Paracel and Spratly Islands as Chinese territory.

"We do not stamp the new Chinese passports," said an official at Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport, the country's main international gateway.

"We issue them a separate visa," said the official, who did not want to be named.

A border guard in northern Lang Son province said they were also not stamping the new passports but issuing separate visas to Chinese arrivals.

Even with the new passports, however, "Chinese citizens can still travel normally through the border gate," the guard added.

Beijing has long infuriated southern neighbours such as Vietnam with its claim to vast swathes of the South China Sea, with Chinese maps showing a "nine-dash line" that runs almost to the Philippine and Malaysian coasts.

Both the Philippines and India have also protested against the map in Beijing's new biometric passports.

India has started stamping its own map onto visas issued to Chinese visitors as the map shows the disputed border areas of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as part of Chinese territory.

Manila, which claims part of the Spratlys, sent Beijing a formal protest letter last week, calling the maps "an excessive declaration of maritime space in violation of international law".

The South China Sea is strategically significant, home to some of the world's most important shipping lanes and believed to be rich in resources. Other claimants to parts of the South China Sea are Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Beijing has attempted to downplay the diplomatic fallout from the recently introduced passports, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying the maps were "not made to target any specific country".
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[XXtCC]

PRC not welcome. Hehe

 

[Kanggie]

Vietnam should learn to know its horrid past before acting tough with China.

 

[hokkien]

Thursday, Nov 29, 2012
BEIJING - China said on Wednesday that people should not read too much into the placement of a new map in its passports that depicts claims to disputed territory, after the United States said it would raise concerns with Beijing over the issue.

The Philippines and Vietnam have condemned the new microchip-equipped passports, saying the map they incorporate violates their national sovereignty by marking disputed waters as Chinese territory.

India, which also claims two Himalayan regions shown as Chinese territory on the map, is responding by issuing visas stamped with its own version of the borders.

"The aim of China's new electronic passports is to strengthen its technological abilities and make it convenient for Chinese citizens to enter or leave the country," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing.

"The issue of the maps in China's new passports should not be read too much into. China is willing to remain in touch with relevant countries and promote the healthy development of the exchange of people between China and the outside world."

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States had concerns about China's map causing "tension and anxiety" between countries in the South China Sea.

The United States, which has urged China and its neighbours to agree on a code of conduct as a first step toward reducing tension over the South China Sea, will accept the new Chinese passports as they meet the standards of a legal travel document.

The Philippines said later on Wednesday it was taking steps to avoid any possibility of being seen to legitimize China's claims in the South China Sea.

It said it would no longer stamp visas for visitors from China in their passports but would issue them on a separate form.

"This action is being undertaken to avoid the Philippines being misconstrued as legitimizing the 9-dash-line," Edwin Lacierda, a spokesman for Philippine President Benigno Aquino, told reporters.

The "9-dash-line" refers to China's claim over the South China Sea as it depicts it on maps, including the map in the passport.

The Philippine Foreign Ministry said the decision not to stamp its visa into the Chinese passports reinforced its protest against China's "excessive claim over almost the entire South China Sea".