The Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources released a new edition of the standard map of China late last month, which includes Taiwan, the South China Sea islands and even disputed areas in Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin between China and India.
“Maps, text, images and paintings can all describe national territory, but maps are the most common and intuitive form of expression of national territory,” said Li Yongchun (李永春), director of the ministry’s Department of Geographic Information Management. “A correct national map is a symbol of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
In response to Beijing’s aggressive move, countries such as India, Malaysia and the Philippines protested, with their foreign affairs ministries unanimously saying that they objected to the map of China, and that Beijing’s action was illegal.
“The map was different from a narrower version China submitted to the UN in 2009 of the South China Sea that included its so-called nine-dash line,” according to Reuters.
“The latest map was of a broader geographical area and had a line with 10 dashes that included democratically governed Taiwan,” Reuters reported.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) was asked during a news briefing about the protests against the new version of the map by countries such as India, Malaysia and the Philippines.
“We hope that relevant parties can view this in an objective and rational manner,” he said, adding that China was just exercising its sovereignty in accordance with the law, urging other countries not to interpret the map to an excessive extent.
In recent years, there have been numerous incidents of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) maritime police vessels confronting other countries’ ships in the South China Sea. Aggressive actions such as using lasers recklessly and obstructing others’ supplies have been frequently reported.
Meanwhile, China has been engaged in disputes with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam over its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea. Beijing has unilaterally declared China’s sovereignty over almost the entire maritime area. It is not surprising that such a claim is unacceptable to all its neighboring countries.
In this year’s edition of the standard map of China, the disputed areas in the South China Sea are included as Chinese territory, but those areas overlap with Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone, along the coasts of Borneo, Sabah and Sarawak. The CCP’s demarcation of others’ territories is extremely brutal indeed, and it shows absolutely no respect for neighboring countries and their people. Hopefully, the international community will unite in boycotting this vicious move by the CCP.
Nick Hu is a graduate student.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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