Screenshot from General Administration of Customs

Officers with Huangdao Customs, under Qingdao Customs in East China's Shandong Province, recently seized 60,000 maps during an inspection of export goods due to errors, including mislabeling the Taiwan region of China and omitting territories such as the South China Sea islands, according to the General Administration of Customs' WeChat account on Monday.

According to authorities, the batch of maps lacked the map-review number issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, contained errors in labeling Taiwan Province of China, omitted important islands such as the South China Sea islands, Diaoyu Dao, and Chiwei Yu, and failed to include China's nine-dash line in the South China Sea and the maritime boundary line regarding island ownership between China and Japan.

Under the regulations, such "problematic maps" are classified as items that endanger national unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and are therefore prohibited from being imported or exported, according to customs.

Global Times