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Chinese customs officers in the coastal province of Shandong have confiscated sixty thousand maps that "improperly identified" the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory.

The maps, officials stated, also "failed to include important islands" in the disputed South China Sea waters, where Beijing's claims clash with those of its neighbors, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

The "violating" maps, c intended for foreign distribution, cannot be sold because they "compromise national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the People's Republic of China, officials confirmed.

Cartographic materials are a sensitive topic for Chinese authorities and its regional competitors for reefs, maritime features and outcrops in the South China Sea.

Specific Compliance Issues

Customs authorities explained that the maps also omitted the nine-dash line, which demarcates China's territorial assertion over almost the whole South China Sea.

The line comprises nine dashes which stretches hundreds of miles south and east from its southern province of Hainan.

The seized maps also did not mark the oceanic demarcation between mainland China and the Japanese archipelago, customs representatives stated.

Taiwan Situation

Officials stated the maps mislabelled "Taiwan province", without detailing what exactly the mislabelling was.

The Chinese government sees self-governed Taiwan as its territory and has maintained the option of the use of military action to take the island. But Taiwan views itself as separate from the Chinese mainland, with its own governing document and popularly chosen officials.

Geopolitical Disputes

Disputes in the South China Sea sometimes intensify - just recently over the weekend, when maritime craft from Chinese authorities and the Philippines participated in another encounter.

Manila claimed a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming and firing its water cannon at a official Philippine ship.

But Chinese officials claimed the encounter happened after the Philippine ship failed to heed continual notices and "dangerously approached" the Chinese vessel.

Historical Precedents

The Philippines and Vietnam are also especially concerned to representations of the South China Sea in maps.

The Barbie movie from last year was prohibited in the Vietnamese market and edited in the Philippine release for showing a maritime chart with the nine dash line.

The statement from China Customs did not indicate where the intercepted items were intended to be sold. China produces much of the international products, from Christmas lights to stationery.

The seizure of "violating charts" by customs officials is relatively common - though the amount of the maps confiscated in Shandong substantially surpasses past seizures. Products that are non-compliant at the border control are disposed of.

In spring, border authorities at an air transportation hub in Qingdao confiscated a batch of one hundred forty-three navigation charts that contained "clear mistakes" in the national borders.

In August, customs officers in the northern province confiscated two "violating cartographic materials" that, besides other problems, included a "incorrect depiction" of the Tibetan border.