Philippines discovers many globes printed with China's "cow tongue line"

Educational globes printed with China's illegal "nine-dash line" in the East Sea are being widely sold in stores across the Philippines, while the sellers are completely unaware of this wrongdoing.

Illustration. (Photo: USA Today)

According to Philstar, on these globes, the "cow tongue line" is clearly printed, encompassing most of the East Sea. Among them, Scarborough Shoal/Huangyan, the subject of dispute between the Philippines and China, is also named in Chinese.

The newspaper quoted owners of wholesale educational equipment stores in the Divisoria area as saying that the globes were all newly imported from China. "The old models are gone. All the new imported globes are like this," said one seller.

When asked why they were selling products with China's illegal "nine-dash line", a shop owner appeared confused, asking back: "What is the nine-dash line?"

Chinese globes sell for between PHP18 and PHP500 ($11), depending on size. The largest, measuring 32 centimeters, is four times cheaper than Taiwanese-made ones and nine times cheaper than American products.

Philstar quoted Philippine Education Secretary Armin Luistro as saying that this was the "first time" this school year he had heard of globes imported from China.

Secretary Luistro said he would ask stores to stop selling the product, to ensure it does not create a false perception of Philippine sovereignty.

Mr. Luistro said that in 2013, after a similar incident, the Philippine Department of Education allocated funds to equip public schools with maps and globes to ensure that students had the right awareness.

“In the education sector, we have clear regulations and now the (necessary) changes are also applied to private schools,” the Philippine education minister stressed. Mr. Luistro also said that there will be regulations requiring parents and schools not to use the above-mentioned products.

To promote its "expansion dream" in the East Sea, Beijing brazenly proposed the so-called "nine-dash line" or "cow tongue line" to illegally impose sovereignty over most of the East Sea, covering from Chinese waters to the coasts of neighboring countries, despite strong reactions from Southeast Asian countries as well as the international community.

According to Dan Tri