Chicago Tribune
Date: May 15, 2018
By: Simon Denyer, Washington Post
U.S. clothing retailer Gap is the latest company to apologize to China for failing to reflect
In this Nov. 16, 2010 file photo, a man carries a Chinese flag as he walks past U.S. retailer GAP’s newly-opened flagship store in Beijing. U.S. clothing retailer Gap has apologized Monday, May 14, 2018, for selling T-shirts with what it says was an “erroneous” map of China. (Andy Wong / AP)
Beijing’s territorial claims – on a map shown on a T-shirt for sale in North America.
The offending T-shirt showed a map of China without including Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing says is an integral part of the country. It also failed to show what China calls “Southern Tibet” – a huge swathe of territory it claims in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh – and failed to draw a line around China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. That drew the ire of some Chinese Netizens after a photo of the T-shirt on sale in Niagara, Canada, was posted online.
Gap quickly apologized, even though it appears the T-shirt is not for sale in China.
“Gap Inc. respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We’ve learned a Gap brand T-shirt sold in some overseas markets mistakenly failed to reflect the correct map of China. We sincerely apologize for this unintentional error,” Gap said in a statement, according to China’s Global Times newspaper. [FULL STORY]
