Grab apologizes for the map violating Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty

Many users have discovered an anomaly on the map displayed on the Grab app, violating maritime sovereignty. Many areas and entities in the East Sea, which belong to Vietnam, are displayed with Chinese and English names, following China’s illegal naming convention.

Grab Vietnam stated that it has received feedback regarding the map display on the application. The company said it is working with its map provider partner to address the issue.

“This incident is not related to Grab’s respect for the country and people of Vietnam,” the company responded. Accordingly, the company is receiving feedback and apologizing for “potential concerns that may arise.”

According to information on the application, Grab’s map data is provided by two sources, OpenMapTitles and OpenStreetMap. These are two open-source tools that provide location information and positioning from multiple sources, including user contributions. Currently, the original OpenStreetMap also contains many discrepancies regarding Vietnam’s maritime sovereignty in the East Sea.

The map displayed on the Grab application contains many violations of sovereignty in the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.

Grab is a technology company based in Singapore that provides transportation, delivery, and digital payment services in many Southeast Asian countries. The above-mentioned application currently dominates the market in Vietnam for ride-hailing and food delivery services.

As of 3:00 pm on April 9, domestic users still see these violations on the ride-hailing app.