HANOI — A group of Chinese tourists wearing T-shirts depicting the country’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea has sparked anger in Vietnam.
The tourists arrived at the Cam Ranh international airport and after going through the immigration took off their coats to reveal T-shirts featuring the so-called “nine-dash line” demarcating Beijing claims to nearly the entire South China Sea. Vietnam is one of the rival claimants.
State-run Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that Vietnamese authorities confiscated the T-shirts on Sunday.
Immigration officials at the airport declined to comment Wednesday.
Some people have called for the deportation of the Chinese tourists.
More than 4 million Chinese arrived in Vietnam last year, accounting for about 30 percent of total foreign arrivals in the Southeast Asian country.
