China destroys 30,000 'inaccurate' world maps

ANKARA

China has destroyed 30,000 world maps printed in the country for showing Taiwan as an independent country and Arunachal Pradesh as part of India, local media reported.

According to state-run Global Times, the maps had "problems including rendering Taiwan as a country and wrong depiction of the Sino-Indian border".

The maps were destroyed by the customs authorities in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, it said.

On December 14, 2015, Chinese State Council, -- country's top decision-making body -- issued a new set of regulations on maps with the “goal of tightening control over maps to safeguard state sovereignty”, the Beijing-based newspaper said.

The regulations came into force on January 1, 2016.

China claims the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory.

Beijing has repeatedly objected to Indian leaders visiting Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its stand.

China also argues that Taiwan is a breakaway Chinese province.

The daily said the maps were produced by a company in East China's Anhui Province and were on the way to being exported to a "foreign country" which it did not name.