The move comes amid a worsening
political crisis between Tokyo and Beijing over disputed islands, and would see
a ten-fold increase in the maximum fine payable for publishing maps considered
inaccurate by the Chinese government.
Current regulations, drafted in
1995, allow for a maximum fine of 10,000 yuan, which would increase to 100,000
yuan ($16,000) if the new law is passed, according to the Xinhua news agency.
The draft also proposed greater
supervision of Internet map services, requiring providers to place data servers
within China's territory and use only approved maps.
Beijing is currently embroiled
in a bitter territorial dispute with Tokyo over a set of uninhabited but
strategically-placed islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkakus in
Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese.
The issue was further
complicated Tuesday when coastguard vessels from Taiwan, which also claims the
islands, sailed into the disputed waters and exchanged water cannon blasts with
their Japanese counterparts.
China claims sovereignty over
nearly all of the South China Sea, a source of friction with several southeast
Asian countries.
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