China has destroyed almost 30,000 maps that do not label Taiwan and a disputed region in north India as its territory.

More than 800 boxes of maps were seized by customs authorities in Qingdao, in the eastern province of Shandong last week.

The items had been deemed problematic as they designated Taiwan, a self-governing island over which China claims sovereignty over, a separate country.

Authorities also took issue with what was claimed to be incorrect labelling of “South Tibet” – a term used by Beijing to refer to parts of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh it also lays claim to.

A total of 28,908 maps were destroyed. All had been produced in China and were due to be exported to an unspecified foreign country, the state-owned Global Times reported.

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“What China did in the map market was absolutely legitimate and necessary, because sovereignty and territorial integrity are the most important things to a country,” Liu Wenzong a professor at China Foreign Affairs University told the newspaper.

“Both Taiwan and South Tibet are parts of China’s territory which is sacred and inviolable based on the international law.”

Beijing is fiercely defensive of its claims to both Taiwan and areas of northern India and has recently started putting pressure on firms that do not refer to the regions as Chinese territory.

In May last year, Gap apologised to China for selling a shirt in its North American outlets featuring a map of the country without Taiwan and Arunachal Pradesh included.

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In January 2018, hotel chain Marriott acknowledged fault when it sent a form to members of its rewards scheme including Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as options for country of residence.