China to Crack Down on Foreign Surveyors & Mappers

An article in China Daily says the Chinese government is cracking down on foreigners conducting surveying and mapping projects in the country without authorization. It notes that back in April, two Japanese scholars were fined 80,000 yuan (about $10,300) for using GPS to collect geographic information on an airport and water facilities in Northwest China.

Also mentioned is the case of an electronics company in Weihai, which was fined 30,000 yuan (about $3,900) for hiring South Korean surveyors to map a plant site without approval from the government.

China Daily says that the State Bureau of Surveys and Mapping has published the results of their investigations into all this illegal surveying and mapping on its website. Since my Chinese is pretty rusty, I didn't bother looking for it.

Since the article mostly rehashes old news, the main point seems to be a warning that new restrictions on surveying and mapping by foreigners went into effect on March 1.

Despite the government's arguments about the need to, "...protect national security and promote economic and scientific cooperation with other countries," the main purpose seems to be insuring the continued employment of the bureaucrats at the State Bureau of Surveys and Mapping.

See also: China Restricts Foreign Surveyors & Mappers