Vietnam targets toys featuring South China Sea map used by Beijing

The investigation was launched after local media reported that a version of Baby Three toys, many of which are made in China, featured a design similar to a map of the disputed South China Sea and were being widely sold, according to a statement on the Agency for Domestic Market Surveillance and Development’s website – a unit of the trade ministry.

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History, money and military: why the South China Sea is so important to Beijing

China claims more than 80 per cent of the South China Sea and backs this up with a 1947 map that shows vague dashes – the nine-dash line – looping down to a point about 1,800km (1,118 miles) south of Hainan Island.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area, and have sparred with Beijing over where the boundaries fall.