Starting next year, the government will enforce new laws governing the production and distribution of maps for both print and online.

Maps with content “that endangers the country’s sovereignty, safety, and interests” could get you in trouble with Chinese authorities, says government mapping official Le Weibin.

According to CCTV, violating these laws could result in owing a fine of up to $31,000. Businesses could also have their licenses suspended or revoked. The most serious offenders could be facing jail time.

The government also said it will be monitoring the map industry for “errors in compilation” and “leaks of secret geographic information and personal information.”

The laws also require online-mapping data to be hosted by servers inside the country. All GPS providers now would need cartography certificates to do business in the country.

These new regulations serve as another attempt by China to legitimize its often disputed territorial claims.

Beijing, for example, still views Taiwan as a breakaway province and it does not recognize its independence. China also claims virtually all of the South China Sea. Those claims are challenged by several countries including Vietnam and Taiwan. The Philippines even filed a lawsuit against China, which this year was heard by an international court in the Netherlands.

China’s proposed territory in the South China Sea is defined by the so-called “nine-dash line” which the government apparently devised in 1947.

“The dotted line of the South China Sea indicates the sovereignty of China over the islands in the South China Sea since ancient times and demonstrates the long-standing claims and jurisdiction practice over the waters of the South China Sea,” Chinese officials wrote in a statement to the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

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BBC reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was on board a civilian flight from the Philippines as he investigated China’s artificial-island building in the region, when he intercepted radio communications revealing the Australian military was conducting freedom of navigation flights.

Wingfield-Hayes overheard a message detailing, “China navy, China navy, we are an Australian aircraft exercising international freedom of navigation rights, in international airspace in accordance with the international civil aviation convention, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – over.”

Australia’s Department of Defense confirmed to the BBC that it had sent a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft on a “routine maritime patrol” to maintain regional security and stability.

Wingfield-Hayes’s reporting got him a warning from the Chinese navy while he was on board the aircraft.

The U.S. has also been conducting freedom of navigation flights to uphold the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and to challenge Beijing’s claim over most of the South China Sea, a strategic and economically-vital waterway through which billions in ship borne goods pass through each year.

Recently, China has alarmed its regional neighbors and the U.S. by engaging in land reclamation to build artificial islands in the region including ones that are equipped with air strips capable of accommodating most military aircraft.

The U.S. has called on China to halt such operations. Last month, it sent B-52 bombers nearby China’s islands in the South China Sea as part of its Freedom of Navigation program, even though it has not formally ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Throughout 2013 and 2014, The U.S. conducted similar operations against China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam – all of which claim territory in the South China Sea..

One interpretation: China is telling Taiwan to stick to the status quo and tread lightly on calls for independence.

The meeting came two months before Taiwan’s presidential election, where the traditionally pro-Independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Tsai Ing-wen seems to be trailing ahead of Ma’s Kuomintang Party (KMT).

This is of particular global concern because China has threatened to use military force against Taiwan if it formally declares and pursues independence. As China expands its military influence, such a move would pull the U.S. into the conflict on the side of Taiwan. Naval warfare in the Taiwanese strait would then put the region at risk as well as outside interests.

As Tsai’s influence rises, Ma’s KMT party seems to be on the decline. The KMT even dropped Ma in mid-October after dismal poll numbers (16 percent to Tsai’s 47 percent). Poll data released last month showed its new candidate Eric Chu to be at numbers close to his predecessor.

Tsai not only has publically called for independence -itching Xi’s trigger finger-but she also is publically skeptical about strengthening ties with Beijing, a key trade partner nonetheless.

On the Chinese side, Xi has announced he is willing to cooperate with a Taiwan that protects the status-Quo (China still considers Taiwan as part of its territory). Xi has called both countries “brothers who are still connected by our flesh even if our bones are broken.”

This sentiment sits well with Xi’s domestic audience.

But, will Tsai play ball if she wins the election despite her rhetoric? Perhaps.

Joseph Wu, the DPP’s second-in-command has said he wants to “maintain the status quo” of the “current democratic way of life.”

Independence would also rely on U.S. support, and it likely would trigger a militaristic response from China.

As ordinary Americans cope with the idea of extending the longest war in its history while dealing with the global Islamist threat, very few would likely throw up their fists in support of going off to battle to protect Taiwan.

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“China will strengthen cooperation with the international community, resolutely crack down on violent terrorist operations that devastate innocent lives, and safeguard world peace and security,” said President Xi Jinping.

China also directed its agencies to boost security “outside China’s borders.”

Xi’s declaration comes after jihadist groups killed at least four Chinese nationals in recent attacks.

On Wednesday, ISIS claimed it had executed Fan Jinghui, as well as Norwegian national Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad. Both may have been taken hostage in September. Images published in the group’s in-house magazine reportedly show the two being executed.

Earlier, its propaganda publication Dabiq showed full-page photos of the hostages with captions that read “For Sale.”

During Friday’s attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali’s capital of Bamako, militants held hostage and killed at least 21 people including three executives from the Chinese Railway Construction Corp.

Zhou Tianxiang and Wang Xuanshang, general manager and deputy general manager of the company’s international division; and Chang Xuehui, general manager of its West Africa division, were killed, according to a company statement.

“China Railway Construction Corp. is deeply saddened by the deaths of the three employees, and we express our deep condolences to the victims’ families and strongly condemn the atrocities committed by the terrorists,” the statement read.

Mali commandos eventually stormed the hotel saving 170 hostages including four other Chinese nationals, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Al Mourabitoun and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, which Xi condemned as “cruel and savage.”

Among the fallen were a worker for the Belgian regional parliament and United States aid worker Anita Ashok Datar. Moscow said Russians also were among the victims.

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg called the murder of Ole “painful for the whole country.”

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For decades, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has neglected the philosopher’s beliefs along with its institutional aspects. During the cultural revolution of 1966 to 1976, officials encouraged citizens to avoid discussing his philosophies in public.

Now, the government is launching several projects throughout the country to promote his teachings and revive his cultural significance.

Officials in Confucius’ hometown of Qufu announced that teachers would get free access to his temple there in an effort to promote the philosopher’s wisdom throughout the country’s classrooms. The Chinese government-sponsored Confucius Foundation of China is also set to build thousands of Confucius schools throughout the country.

Although Confucius’ emphasis on the importance of family roles never left China, many of the institutional aspects of his teachings did.

But why is Confucius officially making his way back into Chinese culture after decades of being brushed aside by the government?

Dr. Rosita Dellios, associate professor of international relations at Bond University, tells gb times that the philosopher’s teachings seem more appealing to people considering the current state of Chinese society.

“It is a time when people are searching for values they can rely on, when China needs a firmer grip on its fast changing reality,” she said.

When President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he acknowledged philosophy as “a powerful ideological tool, with its stress on order, hierarchy, and duty to rules and to family.”

Dellios also expressed that Confucianism is serving as a source of guidance for Chinese leaders coping with China’s increasingly important role in the global economy and international relations among world powers.

She told gb times that Confucius’ influence is evident in China’s “win-win” foreign policy and its “emphasis on the development of other countries.” She points to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the “Belt and Road” as examples of this “cooperative attitude.”

“There is a whole body of strategic culture which China has to draw upon, and which would help in its international relations,” Dellios said..

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued the ruling after the Philippines had filed the suit against China in 2013.

“Our people can be assured that those representing our country have been continuously preparing for this,” said Abigail Valte, a spokeswoman for President Benigno S. Aquino III of the Philippines.

Jay Batongbacal, the director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, told the New York Times that the ruling could support diplomatic relations with other nations opposing China’s claim to the South China Sea.

“The ruling could act to embolden and bring unity to the other claimants,” Batongbacal said.

China has boycotted the Philippines’ suit since 2013 and it has been developing a case for its territorial claims in the South China Sea based on history rather than law.

The court in The Hague rejects that claim.

China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea.

China’s Foreign Ministry announced it would not accept any ruling from the court and called the Philippines’ move “a political provocation under the cloak of law.”

Paul Reichler, an American lawyer representing the Philippines’, argues that the Philippines has the right to exploit oil and gas in waters within a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone extending from territory that it claims in the South China Sea.

China makes the same call.

The Hague court said Thursday it has the authority to hear the Philippines’ submissions based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This week, a U.S. Navy Destroyer navigated around one of China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea to prove China had no legal right to a 12-mile territorial zone around it. Under the Law of the Sea, bits of rock or reef that are elevated only at low tide are not entitled to such a zone.

China has been building up its island on the Subi Reef near the Philippines and a military airstrip is under construction there.

The Philippines argues that China has prevented Philippine vessels from exploiting the waters adjacent to Scarborough Shoal and Johnson Reef, two small, rocky outcrops in the South China Sea favored by fishermen. In 2012, China built a barrier around the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal. A U.S.-brokered deal for both countries to exit the shoal quickly collapsed.

Zhu Feng, the executive director of the China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University, said the ruling was not a defeat for China, but expressed hope the country would become more involved in court proceedings.

“The international jurisdiction will always move in its own way,” Feng told the Times. “I hope Beijing could become more active in participating in all forums and respond to the international ruling at the tribunal.”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou will meet Saturday at Singapore and will address each other as “Mister” rather than their honorific titles, then have dinner after a meeting, according China’s state-run news agency Xinhua.

The Central News Agency in Taiwan reported the leaders will sign no agreements but will discuss ways to “cement peace.”

Since taking office in 2008, Ma has played a major role in softening relations with Beijing.

China and Taiwan officially are the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, respectively. The two separated in 1949 following the communist victory in the civil war. However, China considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China and has threatened military action in response to a formal declaration of independence by Taiwan.

In Taiwan, news of the meeting sparked protests. On Wednesday, protestors gathered outside Taiwan’s parliament holding placards reading “Don’t come back if you go” and “Stop the China-Taiwan relationship.”

Opposition to the meeting is also being seen in China.

“There were apprehensions in Beijing that a meeting with the Taiwanese president might legitimize Taiwan as a sovereign state,” said Michael J. Cole, a fellow of the China Policy Institute, during an interview with CNN.

Despite tensions, however, China remains Taiwan’s biggest trading partner.

Chinese banks now operate on the island and several Taiwanese companies have factories in China. Hundreds of flights go to and from each country each week.

The meeting comes ahead of Taiwan’s general election in January. Last month, leaders of the Kuomintang (KMT) Party overwhelmingly voted to replace Ma with another candidate after polls indicated it was falling behind the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which traditionally has represented Taiwan’s political independence from Beijing. Term limits also hinder Ma from running.

Zhang Baohui, professor of political science at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, told CNN that the KMT is using the meeting to reshape the vote’s dynamics

“Nobody predicted this,” Baohui said. “It refocuses the voters on cross-strait relations, which always benefits KMT candidates.”

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Col. Yang Yujun’s announcement came two days after the U.S. Navy’s USS Lassen’s sailed within the 12-nauticile-mile territorial limit of one of China’s man-made islands in the region. The U.S. refuses to honor sovereign territorial status for these islands, and five regional governments challenge China’s territorial claim to virtually all of the South China Sea including its islands, reefs and atolls.

China didn’t take forceful action against the United State’s navigational maneuver, but strongly condemned it – a common response in similar situations which have occurred in recent years.

“We would urge the U.S. not to continue down the wrong path,” Yang said. “But if the U.S. side does continue, we will take all necessary measures according to the need. China’s resolve to safeguard its national sovereignty and security interests is rock-solid.”

China also denounced the move as a violation of its sovereignty and international law, but the navigation seemed to fall under the internationally recognized “innocent passage” rules.

Beijing, nonetheless, refuses to acknowledge it.

“We are strongly against any kind of effort in the name of freedom of navigation that might damage the interests and security of the littoral states,” Yang said.

The U.S. has urged China to ease its ambitious island building in the South China Sea. Its artificial islands are already complete with buildings, harbors, and airstrips – raising concern among regional governments about a military buildup.

Yang said that Adm. Wu Shengli, commander of the Chinese navy, would present China’s “solemn position” on the South China Sea issue during a video conference later Thursday with Adm. John Richardson, U.S. head of naval operations.

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The code lists 8 moral and ethical principles that the party’s more than 60 million members are expected to follow.

It bans “forming party cliques,” and “using political power to seek profits for family members and staff.”

It also lists extravagant eating and drinking, playing golf, and having “immoral sexual relations” with anyone as immoral behaviors.

Recently, officials have sparked public anger for driving flashy cars, wearing designer brands, and having mistresses to “cultivate their characters.”

According to the code, “Party members must separate public and private interests, put the public’s interest first, and work selflessly.”

For many, this code signals a crumbling divide within the Communist Party.

“It tells us that there are a lot of people who are currently contravening party principles,” said political activist Zha Jianguo. “For these rules to come out is proof positive that the party is in crisis. In the past, such rules were unwritten; they never had to be spelled out clearly on paper for all to see.

“There are so many people straying from the path that they felt they had to write up a disciplinary code.”

Retired Shandong University professor Sun Wenguang believes the code’s emphasis on faction formation highlights the tension within the party under President Xi Jinping, who has led an anti-corruption campaign since taking office.

Critics call Xi’s top-to-bottom offense as being “highly selective” in targeting officials outside his faction.

“The Communist Party is extremely worried about the rise of the reform faction within the party, or perhaps the enlightenment faction, either of which might unseat their mainstream faction [headed by Xi],” Sun said..

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s four-day visit to the U.K., Cameron agreed to business deals amounting to 30 billion pounds, including a Chinese investment in a nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

“I think the British Prime Minister has had a record on putting human rights aside which is very bad strategy and also is a very bad aesthetics, because this certainly doesn’t represent the British people,” Ai told Sky News.

The artist, who previously has been detained by the Chinese government, says Chinese society is “changing dramatically” as a democratic movements rise, but stresses such a transformation can only result from a joint effort.

When the Independent asked what he would say to Mr Xi if they met, he replied “First, I would wish him a good trip.

“I think yes China does need to develop and we do need to have very stable conditions for any kind of development, but this kind of development only can come from respecting the truth, respecting the history, and having strong values…those values can make China have a better future.”

During a press conference in the U.K., Xi addressed the question of human rights saying, “China attaches great importance to human rights … China is ready to increase co-operation with the UK and other countries over human rights.”

Nonetheless, Xi’s presidency has seen the imprisonment of more than 250,000 human rights activists in what Amnesty International calls “the biggest crackdown on human rights in a generation.”

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