China to destroy three lakh 'incorrect' world maps

Customs officials in China have ordered the destruction of three lakh more maps for not mentioning Arunachal Pradesh and Taiwan as part of its territory and decided to file a lawsuit against four persons for trying to export them to the Netherlands, according to a media report.

Last month, officials in China have destroyed 30,000 world maps printed in the country for incorrectly showing the borders with India and depicting Taiwan as a separate country.

China claims the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet. China routinely objects to Indian leaders visiting Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its stand.

India says the State of Arunachal Pradesh is its integral and inalienable part and Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other parts of the country.

The two countries have so far held 21 rounds of talks to resolve the border dispute covering 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control.

China also claims the estranged island of Taiwan as its part.

The Global Times reported on Tuesday that customs officers in South China's Guangdong Province will destroy more than three lakh world maps with boundary mistakes and file a lawsuit against four suspects for intending to export the maps to the Netherlands.

The customs bureau at the port of Wenjindu in China's Guangdong Province recovered 264,983 incorrect world maps in English for export to the Netherlands on January 17, an employee surnamed Wang from the customs' press office told the Global Times.

The maps were printed by a company in Dongguan in China's Guangdong province.

In total the company had printed 306,057 problematic maps, which will all be destroyed.

"Those maps jeopardised China's territorial integrity and will be destroyed soon," Wang said.