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Chinese customs officers in the coastal province of Shandong have intercepted 60,000 maps that "incorrectly labeled" the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its sovereign land.

The maps, authorities said, also "left out important islands" in the disputed South China Sea waters, where Beijing's claims conflict with those of its neighbors, including the Philippines and Vietnam.

The "problematic" maps, meant for export, cannot be sold because they "endanger national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity" of China, customs representatives stated.

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

Detailed Compliance Issues

Customs authorities explained that the maps also failed to include the nine-dash line, which defines China's territorial assertion over nearly the entire South China Sea.

The line comprises nine segments which stretches a significant distance southeastward from its most southerly province of Hainan Island.

The intercepted cartographic items also did not mark the sea border between China and Japan, officials confirmed.

Cross-Strait Status

Authorities said the maps mislabelled "the Taiwan region", without clarifying what exactly the mislabelling was.

The Chinese government considers self-governed Taiwan as its sovereign land and has not ruled out the use of force to unify with the island. But Taiwan sees itself as different from the mainland China, with its own governing document and democratically-elected leaders.

Geopolitical Tensions

Tensions in the South China Sea periodically escalate - just recently over the weekend, when maritime craft from Chinese authorities and the Philippine government participated in another incident.

Philippine authorities accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming and deploying water jets at a government-owned Philippine craft.

But Chinese officials said the incident happened after the vessel from the Philippines failed to heed continual notices and "dangerously approached" the Chinese ship.

Previous Similar Cases

The Philippine government and Vietnamese authorities are also especially concerned to representations of the disputed maritime region in cartographic materials.

The Barbie movie from last year was prohibited in Vietnam and censored in the Philippine release for displaying a maritime chart with the nine dash line.

The declaration from China Customs did not specify where the confiscated materials were destined for sale. The country provides much of the international products, from Christmas lights to office supplies.

The interception of "problematic maps" by China's border authorities is relatively common - though the quantity of the maps seized in the Shandong region significantly exceeds past seizures. Products that are non-compliant at the border control are destroyed.

In spring, border authorities at an airport in Qingdao intercepted a batch of 143 navigation charts that included "apparent inaccuracies" in the territorial boundaries.

In late summer, customs officers in the northern province intercepted a pair of "problematic maps" that, besides other problems, featured a "misdrawing" of the the Tibet region's limits.