A map of China with caption reading "China without any part left out" Photo: People's Daily Sina Weibo account

China's Ministry of Natural Resources said Thursday they had ordered a local authority to investigate a case where a TV drama used the wrong map.

Episode 39 of Go Go Squid, broadcast on Wednesday evening, was reported to have used a map that did not indicate the island of Taiwan, Hainan Province, South Tibet and Aksai Chin - a region between Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region - as part of China.  

The problematic map had not gone through inspection procedures, the ministry said, and urged "relevant authorities to handle the matter according to the law."

Zhu Wei, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, said the map possibly violated article 12 of China's Cyber Security Act. 

Qu Youning, a Taiwan director engaged in the production of the TV drama, denied in an interview with the Global Times on Thursday that it was him who put the wrong map in the drama, stressing that he had never seen it before and would not try such a "stingy" maneuver. 

Before the drama was released on July 9, some internet users revealed that Qu had previously liked posts saying the Chinese mainland and Taiwan were two separate sovereignties on Facebook and suspected that Qu supported Taiwan separation. 

Qu denied supporting the separation of Taiwan island and emphasized that he supports the one-China principle.

Qu's name had been removed from the drama by the production team amid a flood of criticism. 

Qu had said that he hopes the mainland and Taiwan can communicate in a more friendly way.

A post of romantic TV drama Go Go Squid Photo: Go Go Squid Sina Weibo account

Lead actor Li Xian and actress Yang Zi in the latest production also released announcements on their own Sina Weibo accounts soon after screenshots of the wrong map went viral, saying that they resolutely endorse the reunification of the motherland.

State media including People's Daily posted correct maps with the hashtag "Truthful way to open Chinese map" on Weibo and called on people to learn China's territory better. 

"Don't mistake your motherland," People's Daily posted. The hashtag had accumulated more than 100 million reads as of press time.

The Global Times reporter found that the problematic scene had been deleted on video platforms such as Tencent Video as of press time. The 39th episode was not available on YouTube while other episodes are accessible. 

However, some agitated internet users called for removing the drama from all broadcast platforms. 

"None of the editors and reviewers ever noticed the scene? Or they did this on purpose?" a Weibo user posted angrily.
Newspaper headline: TV drama under fire for using wrong map