China irks neighbors with passport map

Generally, when passports become an issue in border disputes it’s because of who they’re being given to. But China has managed to irritate its neighbors just by designing a new passport: China‘s newly revised passports [show] Arunachal Pradesh state and the Himalayan region of Aksai Chin as Chinese territory. Inside the new Chinese passports, an ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Generally, when passports become an issue in border disputes it's because of who they're being given to. But China has managed to irritate its neighbors just by designing a new passport:

Generally, when passports become an issue in border disputes it’s because of who they’re being given to. But China has managed to irritate its neighbors just by designing a new passport:

China‘s newly revised passports [show] Arunachal Pradesh state and the Himalayan region of Aksai Chin as Chinese territory.

Inside the new Chinese passports, an outline of China printed in the upper left corner also includes Taiwan and the South China sea, hemmed in by dashes. The change highlights China’s longstanding claim to the sea in its entirety, though parts of the waters also are claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.

Vietnam is refusing to stamp the new booklets and the Philippines is considering doing the same. Taiwan’s president has also spoken out against the new passports. India has taken a more creative approach by stamping Chinese visas with a map showing the "corrected" version of the border. 

I also suspect other countries locked in territorial disputes may pick up on this tactic. It wouldn’t be surprising if the printers in La Paz are already churning out new booklets depicting the Bolivian seashore

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

Tag: China

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.