Wednesday, July 25, 2018

U.S. airlines plan to comply with China's demands on naming Taiwan as "China Taiwan" or the "China Taiwan region"

U.S. airlines plan to comply with a Chinese government demand that they revise their website identifications of Taiwan to reflect China’s claim on the island territory, said a person familiar with the discussions.

The U.S. carriers affected by the mandate -- American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc., and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. -- will begin to change the Taiwan references over the next day or two ahead of China’s July 25 deadline.


In April, the Civil Aviation Administration of China sent a letter to more than 40 foreign airlines telling them that they shouldn’t place China, Hong Kong and Taiwan on an equal footing, and must refer to “China Taiwan” or the “China Taiwan region.” Maps must display the territories in the same color as mainland China and the websites can’t place Taiwan in other categories such as Southeast Asia, the order said.

China has waged a campaign to force global businesses to conform to its world view if they want to stay in its good graces. Democratically governed Taiwan has been a central issue among the territorial disputes, especially after the Trump administration’s growing ties with the island’s pro-independence President Tsai Ing-Wen.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government fled to Taipei in 1949, and the Communist Party regards the island as a province to be taken by force if necessary.

Hong Kong and Macau -- also requested by the aviation authority to be referred to as Chinese territories -- are special administrative regions that enjoy greater autonomy.

Airlines feared a failure to comply would result in some kind of commercial penalty from China, which would threaten the carriers’ operating conditions in the country’s fast-growing aviation market.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-24/u-s-airlines-are-said-to-accept-chinese-demand-on-naming-taiwan

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like the 'ol communist strong arm tactics are still alive and well in the main land.

    ReplyDelete