Lawyer Le Ngoc Luan said that it is necessary to determine whether Chagee Vietnam is a subsidiary of Chagee China. If the act of sharing the “cow tongue line” is determined to be an administrative or criminal violation, the company will still bear legal responsibility.
Chagee brand sign at construction site in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: HONG PHUC
The first Chagee brand store is expected to open at the Nguyen Thiep - Dong Khoi intersection (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). Before its launch, the brand faced a boycott wave when Vietnamese consumers saw that the company's mobile application displayed a map similar to the "cow tongue line."
According to the business registration, Chagee Vietnam Co., Ltd. was established in February 2025, with the main business lines being restaurants and mobile catering services. The company is legally represented by Mr. Nguyen Anh Duy.
Tuoi Tre Online spoke with lawyer Le Ngoc Luan, (Gold Key Law Firm), to clarify the legal aspects of the case, whether this company is legally responsible or faces the risk of leaving the Vietnamese market.
* Chagee Vietnam removed the map containing the "cow tongue line" on its application in the Vietnamese market, while Chagee China still maintains this map on global platforms. According to the lawyer, is Chagee's behavior considered a violation of Vietnamese law?
- The fact that Chagee Company in China (Chagee) maintains a map with the "cow tongue line" on global platforms is a violation of Vietnam's national sovereignty and Vietnamese law.
This action also violates the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), of which both Vietnam and China are members.
* Under current legal regulations on product labeling, are there any sanctions applied to foreign enterprises when the parent company violates Vietnam's sovereignty, even though the unit in Vietnam has remedied the situation, sir?
- According to Clause 3, Article 5 of the Investment Law, if an investor implements an investment project or conducts business activities that harm, or pose a risk of harming, national security, they may have their investment and business activities in Vietnam suspended, stopped, or terminated.
In this case, if Chagee is the owner of Chagee Vietnam and conducts investment activities in Vietnam, the parent company is obliged to comply with Vietnamese laws.
Chagee Vietnam is a business established and governed by Vietnamese law. If this company commits any violation, it will be subject to specific sanctions, which may be administrative or criminal depending on the nature and severity of the violation.
In case there is sufficient basis to believe that Chagee Vietnam operates in Vietnam but the parent company (investor/owner) continues to maintain a map with inappropriate content that is detrimental or threatens to harm national security, then based on the request of the competent authority as prescribed, Chagee Vietnam's business registration certificate may be revoked.
* Is Chagee Vietnam's removal of the map from its app in Vietnam considered a sufficient corrective action to avoid further sanctions?
- In case there is sufficient basis to believe that Chagee Vietnam's sharing of map images containing the "cow tongue line" satisfies the signs of an administrative or criminal violation, the removal action is only a mandatory remedial measure.
In fact, Chagee Vietnam is still responsible and subject to sanctions under current regulations, even if the infringing content has been removed because the violation has already occurred.
* If Vietnamese consumers continue to boycott and complain, could this lead to legal lawsuits against Chagee Vietnam?
Currently, Chagee Vietnam has removed content that violates Vietnam's sovereignty. Therefore, if domestic consumers continue to boycott and complain based on Chagee's actions (for example: being deceived by false information, poor quality products...), the authorities will verify and handle it according to regulations.
Chagee Vietnam will still face administrative or criminal sanctions in case the act of sharing images of maps containing the "cow tongue line" previously satisfied the signs of violation.
In addition, civil lawsuits from consumers, although not directly related to the map but based on other issues (such as service quality), are also potential legal risks that Chagee Vietnam must face.
* Based on your experience observing similar cases (for example: H&M, Volkswagen), how do you assess the possibility that Chagee Vietnam will be allowed to continue doing business if they apologize and remove the image of the "cow tongue line" map on the application in Vietnam?
- In the similar case of H&M or Volkswagen when posting images containing the nine-dash line map in advertising products in Vietnam, the authorities have imposed penalties on violations and requested the removal of false information.
H&M and Volkswagen in Vietnam and around the world have also removed all images containing the nine-dash line map that violates Vietnam's national sovereignty.
This shows that these brands have changed and although their operations have not been suspended or their business licenses have not been revoked by the authorities, these brands have been greatly affected by strong opposition and condemnation from public opinion and consumers, leading to many difficulties in their business operations in Vietnam.
Therefore, first of all, Chagee Vietnam is facing the legal risk of being subject to administrative sanctions similar to the above brands and facing a boycott by consumers even though it has not officially started operating.
Whether Chagee can continue doing business in Vietnam depends on many other factors.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chagee-viet-nam-co-chiu-trach-nhiem-phap-ly-vu-duong-luoi-bo-20250319124608362.htm
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