Beijing: China’s customs authorities seized a shipment of world maps, meant for export, for showing Arunachal Pradesh as part of India, the official media reported on Friday. It claims that the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is part of South Tibet, something India strongly disagrees with. Arunachal Pradesh, according to India, is integral and inalienable to the country.
Maps wrapped in about 300 export consignments marked as “bedclothes” were seized by customs at Shanghai Pudong airport, thepaper.cn reported.
A new regulation was passed in China in 2019, requiring all maps printed and sold in the country, including those for export, to display the official version of Chinese maps that incorporate China’s claims, such as Arunachal Pradesh, Taiwan, and the South China Sea. This is because maps are the primary means of representing national territory, which has political, scientific and legal importance, according to the notice announcing the new regulation.
‘Problematic maps will confuse the international community about China’s territory or even be hyped by those with ulterior motives,’ it said.
In the same year the rule was adopted, Chinese customs destroyed over three lakh maps intended for export because they did not match official maps of the country.
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