A story today in China View discusses a Chinese government crack down on the sale of a topography map. A ‘classified’ map from the period of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was being sold at a market in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, prompting the crackdown. The ban asks for citizens to report any such ‘classified’ maps that are being traded and outlines punishment for any government department that loses any classified maps or punishment for any website that displays such maps.
The story serves to illustrate the stark difference between China’s policy on mapmaking vs. that of the rest of the world. Most nations have conceded the open nature of mapping, and a large number have encouraged the open mapping of our world. China is still firmly in the camp of protecting map data for security reasons.
