China to Regulate Internet Map Publishing

hackingbear writes "After text, pictures, and videos, China starts regulating Internet map publishing (here is the google translation.) The government believes that Internet maps can represent the state's sovereignty and its political and diplomatic positions in the international community — and consequently, inaccurate maps could harm national interests and dignity, produce bad political influences, reveal national secrets and harm national security, in addition to harming consumer interests. So from now on, publishing maps would require approval and (yet another) license from the state survey bureau. That means Google, Yahoo, etc., need to remove China from the map; or maybe they just pay up some officials and their agents to acquire yet another license. And our newest 80Gbps DPI monsters need to be upgraded to identify maps together with porn."

Re:Can they do this?

[gstoddart]

As Google maps are satellite based, how inaccurate can they be?

Oh, they show an accurate picture of the geography.

But, political things like borders and sensitive areas are a different matter.

I don't believe this is the first time a country has objected to the way an internet mapping service represents their country.

This isn't about an accurate picture, so much as a politically driven interpretation or label. The US censors some Google data as well.

Cheers

Real concern == Taiwan

[surmak]

When China is talking about sovereignty, and "national interests and national dignity" they are really talking about having Taiwan (and maybe Tibet as well) labeled as independent nations.

Basically, they do not want any maps to be available on the Net to their own people (or anyone else, but that is impossible) which contain such counter-revolutionary ideas such as an independent Taiwan(even if only de facto).

English language article from CCTV

[GeorgeNorton]

CCTV's English language service ran this article a couple of months back: http://www.cctv.com/english/20080410/101774.shtml [cctv.com]

A better article

[Tungbo]

This link has more info: http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2008-03-25/21362099485.shtml [sina.com.cn]

Google licensed PRC geographic data from Beijing United Map Technology Limited (just a guess translation) who has a electronic map service license from the National Survey Department (apparently the prime driver for the regulatory initiative). The reporter speculates that the regulatory initiave may be related to the competition between Beijing United Map Technology with its duopoly competitior, Beijing Map Advanced Technology.

The official reasons given by the Deputy Director of the National Survey Department are:
1. Inaccurate boundaries show parts of PRC as soil of other nations
2. Omission of south sea islands (disputed islands with Japan)
3. Omission of Taiwan or labeling of Taiwan as independent
4. Inaccurate boundaries between administrative regions and dissemination of important geographical data
5. Annotation of sensitive, nonpublic, or national security information on the map.
          (Think of Dick Cheney's house...)

Part of Google's objection is that there are no clear laws pertaining to online maps in PRC. Thus the regulators are not acting on a solid foundation. There remains wide spread confuson on what exactly is required by these regulations.

As for Google's choices, they are actively protesting this initiative. But unless they prevail or pull out of China they would be subjected to their laws and likely to adapt to publishing only authorized versions of PRC maps.

Re:Can they do this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Tibet and Taiwan both insist that they are separate countries from China with their own governments. Much of the rest of the world (at least the non-communist west) considers Tibet and Taiwan as separate from China.

That is not what the rest of the world holds. For example, the state department includes Tibet as part of China. See Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 [state.gov], which states that "The United States recognizes the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Tibetan autonomous prefectures and counties in other provinces to be a part of the People's Republic of China." What do the people of Tibet hold? It's not clear. The Dali Lama is not pushing for Tibet independence, just cultural autonomy. Many of the supporters of an independent Tibet left the region almost a generation ago or have no cultural ties to the region (e.g., most of the protesters who decided unilaterally that the Olympics were a symbol of Chinese oppression). The Mandarin Chinese who have built homes and businesses in Tibet certainly are not interested in having it become a separate country. Should their opinion count?

Taiwan, on the other hand, is in a limbo state. Western leaders continue to support the status quo. That is, western leaders do not want China to forcibly reunify Taiwan, which would be very destabilizing, but do not want the Taiwanese to declare their independence from China either. Support for the status quo is one of the reasons why the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. See The CIA World Factbook [cia.gov]. The majority of Taiwanese people support the status quo too.

Re:Can they do this?

[ChakatSanddancer]

Google maps aren't satellite based. They data from digital map providers, like Navteq, much the same as all other online mapping providers. The data itself usually comes from civil records and the like; relying on satellite and aerial photography would be way too inaccurate.

Re:They want it both ways

[OeLeWaPpErKe]

If you think it's bad in the US, then don't look at EU countries. It can be much worse.

Minimum wage in EU is about 15$/hour I believe. Anything that is worth less than that does ... not get done.