If you think China's illegal "nine-dash line" purloining most of the South China Sea is ridiculous, wait 'til you get a load of its "251-dash line" map that asserts China owns most of the Pacific Ocean based on "historical rights" dating back millennia.

The authentic-looking "map" created a storm when it first hit the internet in August 2014. Some people believed it but the map's since been proven to be part of an elaborate satire spoofing China's claim to own the South China Sea.

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As you can see from this elaborate and ornate fake map, there's a "251-dash line" that extends from the East China Sea all the way to the west coast of the United States and Mexico.

The map infers Hawaii belongs to China and so Hawaii was stolen from China by the United States, which must give it back of face the consequences. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Investigators discovered the 251-dash line map was the work of the person or persons behind a blog called the "Ministry of Harmony" that humorously describes itself as "The Onion with Chinese Characteristics," another spoof of a saying long associated with the Communist Party of China. This blog is still online here but seems inactive as its last posts date back to 2015.

The original post in 2014 claimed China's Ministry of Education had released a new world map where China claims most of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and most of Micronesia.

It said Xinhua, China's propaganda media machine, reported the ministry issued a directive ordering "all educational facilities and government offices to replace their outdated world maps with the current iteration," or the 251-dash line map.

Emmanuel Mori, who then was President of the Federated States of Micronesia, reportedly dismissed the map as "absurd" and accused China of "cartographic rape."

In the map, China also claims Mexico's Clarion Island and France's Clipperton Island. The ministry said both islands will be granted full autonomy.

Hawaii and other American territories such as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands will be combined to form a new Chinese province called "Xinmeiguo," which is a male Chinese name and probably belongs to one of the guys behind the Ministry of Harmony.

The ministry defended the new "251-dash map" by pointing to several Qing-era documents that show the Carolines, the Northern Mariana and Marshall Islands were under Chinese control hundreds of years ago.

"The study of what constitutes Chinese territory is ongoing," said one ministry official.

The ministry also said it had discovered the Ming Empire also controlled a large portion of Antarctica. It said it would immediately begin producing a new, revised map including Antarctica as an immutable part of China.

Tagschina, 251-dash line, Ministry of Harmony, Xinhua, Xinmeiguo