🔗 Share this article

Customs authorities in China in the coastal province of Shandong have confiscated sixty thousand maps that "improperly identified" the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Chinese authorities considers part of its sovereign land.

The maps, authorities said, also "left out important islands" in the South China Sea, where China's territorial assertions clash with those of its neighbors, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

The "non-compliant" maps, destined for overseas markets, cannot be sold because they "threaten national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the People's Republic of China, authorities said.

Cartographic materials are a sensitive topic for China and its regional competitors for coral formations, islands and outcrops in the South China Sea.

Detailed Compliance Issues

China Customs explained that the maps also failed to include the nine-dash line, which demarcates Beijing's claim over nearly the entire South China Sea.

The line comprises nine lines which extends numerous nautical miles south and east from its southernmost province of Hainan.

The intercepted cartographic items also did not mark the maritime boundary between China and Japan, customs representatives stated.

Cross-Strait Situation

Customs representatives explained the maps improperly identified "the Taiwan region", without specifying what exactly the improper identification was.

China sees self-governed Taiwan as its territory and has maintained the option of the use of military action to unify with the island. But Taiwanese authorities considers itself separate from the mainland China, with its own constitution and elected leadership.

Regional Tensions

Tensions in the South China Sea flare up occasionally - most recently over the weekend, when vessels from China and the Philippines participated in another incident.

Manila alleged a Chinese vessel of purposefully hitting and firing its water cannon at a Philippine government vessel.

But Chinese officials said the confrontation happened after the vessel from the Philippines ignored repeated warnings and "dangerously approached" the China's maritime craft.

Previous Precedents

The Philippine government and Vietnam are also particularly sensitive to representations of the South China Sea in maps.

The popular motion picture from last year was banned in the Vietnamese market and modified in the Philippine release for showing a South China Sea map with the nine dash line.

The declaration from China Customs did not say where the seized maps were intended to be sold. The country provides much of the world's goods, from holiday decorations to stationery.

The interception of "violating charts" by customs officials is not uncommon - though the number of the maps confiscated in Shandong significantly exceeds previous confiscations. Goods that are non-compliant at the border control are disposed of.

In March, customs officers at an airport in Qingdao confiscated a batch of one hundred forty-three marine maps that included "apparent inaccuracies" in the sovereign limits.

In late summer, customs officers in Hebei province seized a pair of "problematic maps" that, besides other problems, featured a "incorrect depiction" of the Tibet's boundaries.