Google is trying to satisfy both China and India, by splitting a sensitive area on Google Maps for their respective users. This particular sensitive area is Arunachal Pradesh, a region where ownership is disputed by China and India.
These actions are the result of India criticizing Google Maps earlier this year for what Google described as a mistake of using the Chinese script to mark the Arunachal Pradesh area, a state formally administered by India.
How did Google settle their maps to facilitate the wishes of both countries? What happens is that the Chinese Google Maps shows part of the area inside the Chinese borders, while the Indian version depicts it within the Indian border. Besides these local version, the global version of Google maps shows the area as a ‘disputed territory’ and displays broken lines on the map.
A Google spokeswoman said that they want to show all disputed regions around the world, based on the global properties. They do not endorse or affirm the position taken by any party, but merely provides information regarding the geopolitical situations to their users.
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