Stamp of disapproval: Border official scrawls F-bomb in Chinese passport

Stamp of disapproval: Border official scrawls F-bomb in Chinese passport

HO CHI MINH CITY — “Welcome to Vietnam!” was not the warm greeting one Chinese woman received upon arrival. Instead, she claims the Vietnamese border official scribbled “f**k you” on two pages of her passport, reports several Chinese papers.

According to Mashable, the words were written across a controversial map printed on the two pages. The map, which has been printed in Chinese passports since 2012, is a source of much anger against China in Southeast Asia because it outlines a portion of the South China Sea that China says it owns. However, several Southeast Asian nations, including Vietnam, are disputing China’s territorial claims.

Vietnam even went so far as to have made a formal complaint to Beijing in 2012 when China’s new passports first rolled out. Since then, there have been reports of border officials in Vietnam refusing to stamp Chinese passports altogether.

Border official scrawls F-bomb in Chinese passport

The Beijing News reports that the woman’s passport is now considered invalid since it’s been defaced. She will need to get it replaced upon her return home.

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