Chinese city shreds 29,000 maps showing Taiwan as a country
- Customs seizure prompts promise of closer monitoring of maps
- Resources ministry says such prints are ‘serious threat to national security’
Authorities in a northeastern Chinese city destroyed about 29,000 “problematic” world map posters that depicted Taiwan as a country.
More than 800 boxes containing 28,908 maps destined for export were shredded at a government-designated secret site in Qingdao, Shandong province, late last week. The move was ordered by the city’s natural resources and planning bureau after the maps were discovered by customs officials, news website Dazhongwang Qingdao reported on Thursday.
The bureau said the haul was the biggest recent official seizure of “problematic” maps and it promised to keep a closer eye on map production, as well as the import and export of those products.
Maps reflected national sovereignty and were a political statement, Ma Wei, from the Department of Geographical Information Management at the Ministry of Natural Resources, was quoted as saying.
“If there are ‘problematic maps’ which harm national sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially foreign printed products or products destined for import or export, they will be intentionally used or speculated on by the international community,” he said.