A BLOB of “wrongly” coloured ink, a controversial map of Asia and the seizure of 128 civics textbooks have plunged Japan and China into another round of bitterness and mutual distrust.

The latest incident in the troubled relationship between the two neighbours flared up yesterday when it emerged that books on their way by mail to a Japanese school in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian had been seized by customs authorities.

This is the first time that China has interfered with books or lessons at Japanese schools within its borders, and inflames the arguments over Japan’s attitudes to its wartime past. A Japanese Cabinet insider told The Times that the seizure was “provocative and probably illegal”.

The books were confiscated because a page showing a map of Asia had the island of Taiwan coloured differently from mainland China — a widespread convention of international cartography to which China takes great offence.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory, despite the island’s split from the mainland after a civil war in 1949. Beijing refers to Taiwan as awaiting reunification. Japan maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan.

The Japanese school, which has since recovered almost all of the books, was ordered by the local Dalian customs office to pay a fine of about £50. Mitsuru Ebihara, the school’s deputy headmaster, said that the fine would be paid, but the incident has caused anger in Tokyo, where officials are demanding an explanation.

A foreign ministry spokesman said: “We want to know what exactly is going on, which exact regulation has been breached and why exactly the school has been fined.” He said that if no law had been broken, and the seizure was groundless, the incident would be taken up at diplomatic level.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been sour since violent anti-Japanese demonstrations broke out in Chinese cities this year, during which Japanese businesses and official properties were attacked. One apparent cause was the publication of a Japanese school textbook that played down atrocities committed by Japan during its imperialist era.

Another source of acrimony has been the visits of Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s Prime Minister, to the Yasukuni Shrine — a memorial where war criminals are honoured among the dead. He has consistently defended his right to visit the shrine, despite the fury that it provokes among its immediate Asian neighbours.

Mr Koizumi said recently: “I don’t think Japan has to bow to the demands of South Korea and China since it has its own position on the matter. While acknowledging each other’s differences, I think it is crucial to concentrate on promoting our friendship.”

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