( Financial Times ) -- The government of a remote province in western China says it is investigating Coca-Cola over allegations that it illegally mapped parts of the province , as China and the US engage in an escalating war of words over cyber espionage . The Yunnan Geographical Information Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said the US drinks company had been `` illegally collecting classified information with handheld GPS equipment '' , according to a Yunnan government website . Coca-Cola said it had `` co-operated fully '' with the inquiry , adding that local bottling plants use `` e-map and location-based customer logistics systems that are commercially available in China '' to improve customer service and fuel efficiency . `` These customer logistics systems are broadly used for commercial application across many industries in China and worldwide , '' the company said . The Yunnan government said the Coca-Cola case was one of 21 instances of alleged illegal surveying under investigation in the area , which also included others ' illegal sales of classified military maps online , aerial photography by unmanned aircraft , and illegal surveying of military bases . The bureau gave no further details of the Coca-Cola investigation , but a bureau official who gave his surname as Han said the investigation would end soon . `` We will announce the results when it ends , '' he told the Financial Times in an interview . `` It is a bit sensitive . I do n't know how it got published , '' he added . China National Radio broadcast an interview with Li Mingde , the deputy director of the Yunnan bureau involved in investigating Coke , who said it was `` urgent '' to punish cases of illegal mapping . `` Some people are profiting from collecting information , including providing it to some foreign intelligence agencies , '' he said , noting that when the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was bombed by the US in 1999 , the US blamed it on an inaccurate map . `` Mapping information can be used by enemies . So it must be restricted , '' he said . Coke declined to respond to his comments . Beijing and Washington have recently ratcheted up their mutual accusations about cyberspying , with the White House on Monday calling on China to take `` serious steps '' to stop extensive hacking of US companies and start negotiating international rules for behaviour in cyberspace . The comments in the New York Times and other leading newspapers followed reports of Chinese hacking , as well as high-profile research from US cybersecurity company Mandiant which for the first time linked extensive cyberattacks on US businesses to a specific unit of the Chinese military in Shanghai . A recent New York Times report on hacking by the military unit said Coca-Cola had itself been a target . Yang Jiechi , China 's foreign minister , has rejected allegations of Chinese military involvement in hacking . `` Anyone who tries to fabricate or piece together a sensational story to serve their political motive will not be able to blacken the name of others or whitewash themselves , '' he said at the weekend . Additional reporting by Gu Yu in Beijing and Yan Zhang in Shanghai . © The Financial Times Limited 2013 .
A local Chinese official has accused Coca - Cola of illegally mapping parts of the province . The claims are part of a war of words between China and the US over cyber espionage .