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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 territory.

The maps, authorities said, also "failed to include important islands" in the disputed South China Sea waters, where China's territorial assertions overlap with those of its neighbors, including the Philippine government and Vietnam.

The "problematic" 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, authorities said.

Maps are a sensitive topic for Chinese authorities and its rivals for reefs, maritime features and outcrops in the disputed maritime region.

Detailed Violations

China Customs said that the maps also did not contain the nine-segment line, which demarcates Beijing's claim over almost the whole South China Sea.

The demarcation includes nine dashes which runs numerous nautical miles south and east from its most southerly province of Hainan Island.

The intercepted cartographic items also failed to indicate the maritime boundary between China and Japan, customs representatives stated.

Cross-Strait Situation

Officials stated the maps incorrectly labeled "Taiwan province", without detailing what exactly the improper identification was.

China views self-ruled Taiwan as its sovereign land and has kept open the possibility of the use of force to unify with the island. But Taiwanese authorities sees itself as different from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and popularly chosen officials.

Regional Disputes

Conflicts in the disputed maritime region sometimes intensify - in recent days over the weekend, when maritime craft from Chinese authorities and the Philippine government participated in another incident.

Philippine authorities alleged a Chinese ship of intentionally colliding with and deploying water jets at a government-owned Philippine craft.

But Chinese officials said the incident happened after the Philippine ship ignored repeated warnings and "dangerously approached" the Chinese ship.

Previous Precedents

The Philippine government and Vietnam are also particularly sensitive to portrayals of the disputed maritime region in cartographic materials.

The 2023 Barbie film from last year was banned in the Vietnamese market and edited in the Philippine release for displaying a maritime chart with the nine-segment boundary.

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

The seizure of "non-compliant cartographic materials" by China's border authorities is not uncommon - though the quantity of the maps intercepted in the Shandong region substantially surpasses past seizures. Products that are non-compliant at the border control are disposed of.

In spring, border authorities at an airport in Qingdao intercepted a batch of 143 nautical charts that featured "apparent inaccuracies" in the territorial boundaries.

In August, border authorities in the northern province confiscated two "non-compliant charts" that, among other things, contained a "improper representation" of the Tibet's boundaries.