China to tighten controls on foreign map-making
China will tighten controls on foreign mapmakers, who the government says are illegally surveying its territory and endangering national security, a state news agency said today.
Foreign researchers will need government permission to engage in surveying and must accept official supervision, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the State Bureau of Survey and Mapping.
“The number of foreigners conducting surveying and mapping in China is on the rise and many field projects have been carried out illegally, which have threatened the security of the country,” Xinhua said.
“Foreigners who illegally survey, gather and publish geographical information on China will be severely punished.”
The communist government has eased controls on travel in recent years, but still regards maps as sensitive secrets.
Two Japanese researchers were fined and deported this year for collecting co-ordinates of an airport and water facilities in China’s north-west, Xinhua said.
It said the government feared the information could have a military use.
