by Chinese customs officials in eastern Shandong province have seized 60,000 cards “mislabelling” the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Beijing says is part of its territory.
The maps also omit “key islands” in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s claims overlap with those of its neighbors including the Philippines and Vietnam, according to authorities.
The “problematic” cards, intended for export, cannot be sold because they “endanger China’s national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” authorities said.
Maps are a sensitive subject for China and its rivals over reefs, islands and outcrops in the South China Sea.
Chinese customs said the maps also did not include the nine-dash line that demarcates Beijing’s claim over almost the entire South China Sea.
The line consists of nine dashes that extend hundreds of kilometers south and east of the southernmost province of Hainan.
The seized maps also did not mark the maritime border between China and Japan, authorities said.
Authorities said the cards were mislabeled with the text “Taiwan Province,” without specifying what exactly the mislabeling was.
China views self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out using force to take over the island. But Taiwan sees itself as distinct from mainland China, with its own constitution and democratically elected leaders.
Tensions in the South China Sea have flared occasionally, most recently over the weekend when ships from China and the Philippines clashed again.
Manila accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming and firing its water cannon at a Philippine government ship.
But Beijing said the incident occurred after the Philippine ship ignored repeated warnings and “dangerously approached” the Chinese vessel.
[BBC]
The Philippines and Vietnam are also particularly sensitive to depictions of the South China Sea on maps.
The 2023 Barbie movie was banned in Vietnam and censored in the Philippines for showing a map of the South China Sea with the nine-dash line.
The Chinese customs statement did not specify where the seized cards would be sold. China supplies a large share of the world’s goods, from Christmas lights to stationery.
The seizure of ‘problematic cards’ by Chinese customs officials is not uncommon – although the number of cards seized in Shandong easily exceeds previous seizures. Goods that do not pass customs inspection are destroyed.
In March, customs officials at an airport in Qingdao seized a batch of 143 nautical charts that contained “obvious errors” in national boundaries.
In August, customs officials in Hebei province seized two “problematic maps” that included a “wrong drawing” of the Tibetan border.
