Chinese authorities said the cards “undermine national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity” and should not be sold.
China considers Taiwan its territory, although the island has its own government, constitution and democratically elected leaders. The confiscated maps also did not show the nine-dash line denoting Beijing's claim to almost the entire South China Sea, nor did they indicate the maritime border with Japan.
The media noted that this happened against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the region: Chinese and Philippine ships recently collided in the waters of the South China Sea.
The BBC recalled that this is not the first time China has confiscated “problematic” maps: in March, customs officers seized 143 navigation maps with errors in the boundaries, and two more in August due to an allegedly incorrect image of the Tibetan border.
Context
Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) and the People's Republic of China are separated by the Taiwan Strait. Since 1949, Taiwan has been governed by its own administration; the flag and some other attributes of the Republic of China, which was on the mainland before the Communist Party of China came to power, remain there, but it does not officially proclaim its independence. According to official position of the PRC, The island is considered one of the provinces of China.
Relations between China and Taiwan have deteriorated in recent years, with CRN leader Xi Jinping vowing to pursue peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan. A number of analysts have stated that the Chinese army could attack Taiwan at any time. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also warned that China wants to start a war in Taiwan, setting the aggressor country of the Russian Federation against Europe.
