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Chinese customs officers in the coastal province of Shandong have intercepted 60,000 maps that "mislabelled" the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.

The maps, customs representatives explained, also "failed to include important islands" in the disputed South China Sea waters, where China's territorial assertions clash with those of its neighbors, including the Philippines 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, officials confirmed.

Maps are a sensitive topic for Chinese authorities and its regional competitors for reefs, maritime features and rock formations in the South China Sea.

Detailed Violations

China Customs explained that the maps also omitted the nine-dash boundary, which demarcates Beijing's claim over almost the whole South China Sea.

The boundary consists of nine segments which extends numerous nautical miles southeastern direction from its most southerly province of Hainan Island.

The confiscated materials also did not mark the oceanic demarcation between mainland China and Japan, customs representatives stated.

Cross-Strait Situation

Customs representatives explained the maps incorrectly labeled "the Taiwan region", without clarifying what exactly the incorrect labeling was.

The Chinese government views self-ruled Taiwan as its sovereign land and has maintained the option of the use of military action to unify with the island. But Taiwanese authorities sees itself as different from the mainland China, with its own constitution and elected leadership.

Geopolitical Disputes

Conflicts in the disputed maritime region periodically escalate - most recently over the weekend, when maritime craft from Chinese authorities and the Philippine government participated in another incident.

Manila claimed a China's maritime craft of intentionally colliding with and deploying water jets at a official Philippine ship.

But Beijing claimed the encounter happened after the Philippine vessel disregarded multiple alerts and "dangerously approached" the Chinese ship.

Previous Similar Cases

The Philippine government and Vietnamese authorities are also highly vigilant to depictions of the South China Sea in cartographic materials.

The 2023 Barbie film from last year was banned in Vietnam and censored in the Philippines for displaying a maritime chart with the nine dash line.

The declaration from China Customs did not specify where the seized maps were intended to be sold. The country supplies much of the international products, from holiday decorations to office supplies.

The interception of "violating charts" by China's border authorities is not uncommon - though the number of the maps seized in the Shandong region easily eclipses earlier interceptions. Merchandise that fail inspection at the customs are destroyed.

In March, customs officers at an airport in Qingdao confiscated a batch of 143 navigation charts that contained "clear mistakes" in the sovereign limits.

In August, border authorities in the northern province seized a pair of "non-compliant charts" that, in addition to other issues, included a "misdrawing" of the the Tibet region's limits.