A Japanese restaurant in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, removed two Japanese maps from its dining area after local media pointed out that they marked China's Diaoyu Islands as Japanese territory, prompting the local foreign affairs office to condemn the maps as "illegal."
An official from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Wuhan Municipal Government told the Global Times that displaying the maps in China is an "illegal action" and the Japanese restaurant has removed the maps per the office's request.
A resident surnamed Wang told Wuhan-based Changjiang Daily on Sunday that a Japanese restaurant was displaying a Japanese map that marked China's Diaoyu Islands as the Senkaku Islands.
The map also showed the so-called Senkaku Islands and Ishigaki as being under the administration of southern Japan's Okinawa Prefecture.
An official from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Wuhan Municipal Government told the Changjiang Daily that it is wrong to display a map that marks China's Diaoyu Islands as the Senkaku Islands and urged citizens to call the local public security bureau to handle any cases regarding such illegal maps.
The Map Management Regulations, enacted by China's State Council in January 2016, stipulate that no organization or individual may display geographic maps that do not comply with the nation's standards and regulations.
An employee of the restaurant told the Changjiang Daily that the owner, who could not be reached for comment, is a Japanese national who brought the map from Japan.
The Diaoyu Islands have long been disputed by China and Japan, and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly called upon Japan to recognize the islands' history and respect the facts.
