Beijing issues a new document for its nationals with a map of the country that includes the territories that China disputes with other Asian countries
Visiting neighboring countries threatens to become a headache for Chinese tourists. Since last weekend, some of them have already seen how the Vietnamese authorities invalidated their passports or stapled loose sheets of entry visas to them.. It is Hanoi's response to Beijing's initiative to issue a new passport with a map of the country that includes the territories that China disputes with other Asian countries..
More than a hundred Chinese tourists must have been left speechless last weekend when, upon preparing to enter Vietnam, they saw how one after another they were rejected and a Vietnamese police officer put the stamp “invalid cancelled” on their brand new passports..
“We do not accept them because they seriously violate the sovereignty of Vietnam”, explained Lieutenant Colonel Tran Viet Huynh, head of the Lao Cai border post, between China and Vietnam, to the Vietnamese periodical Tuoi Tre. A transgression that consists of including the archipelagos of the Paracel and Spratly islands, China disputes Vietnam, among other countries, due to the gas and oil reserves contained in the maritime subsoil of the area.
At another border post, Vietnamese police issue visas on loose sheets, that staple to new passports. This is a measure that aims to prevent the stamping of these passports. An act that the Hanoi authorities consider could be interpreted as a recognition of Chinese sovereignty over those islands..
The Vietnamese authorities have stressed that they will respect the visas previously granted to Chinese citizens who have requested it.. Nevertheless, They have warned that upon leaving the country they will stamp the invalidity stamp on the new passports.
Vietnam's attitude follows the protest it made, just like the philippines, before the Chinese ambassador, for the inclusion of these territories in the document.
Beijing, however, has downplayed the situation. “The map of China in the new passport is not directed against any country in particular”, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said last week, Hua Chunying, who expressed his confidence that “countries adopt a rational and sensible attitude, and avoid interfering with the normal development of bilateral relations with China.".
Reality, however, there are other countries –in addition to Vietnam and the Philippines– displeased with the new passport. This is the case of Taiwan, whose government has seen how Beijing, as well as including the Spratly Islands, It also incorporates important tourist spots on the rebel island, such as the Sun and Moon Lake in Nantou and the Chingshui cliffs, en Hualien, to the east.
The Taipei authorities have not been slow to react. Despite his efforts to improve relations with Beijing, They have described the Chinese passport as unacceptable and have warned that it will negatively affect bilateral relations.
But the countries bordering the South China Sea are not the only ones that have been offended by Beijing's fait accompli policy.. The other emerging power, India, has also protested. Complains that China has included border territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.
The response from the Indian Foreign Ministry has not been long in coming either.. After disqualifying the Chinese document, has begun to issue visas to citizens of the Asian giant with a map that shows that the two disputed areas are part of the territory of India.
Given the controversy caused by the new Chinese passport, everything leads to think that times of bureaucratic harshness are coming in the region.
