The Los Angeles Times
Date: Jun 16, 2018
By: Hugo Martin
A demand by China that all air carriers worldwide refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong and
Travelers at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan City, northern Taiwan. China has put pressure on airlines flying to China as well as to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to order airlines to change Taiwan destinations as part of China. (DAVID CHANG/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutters)
Macau on online maps and drop-down menus as Chinese territories — not as independent regions — is being ignored by the U.S.’s biggest airlines.
At least for now.
The order from Beijing came in May, and dozens of foreign-based carriers have already fallen in line.
Earlier this week, the Associated Press confirmed that 20 carriers, including Air Canada, British Airways and Lufthansa, were referring to Taiwan as a part of China on their global websites. China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, but the two have been ruled separately since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s.
In a statement, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: “Foreign enterprises operating in China should respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, abide by China’s law and respect the national sentiment of the Chinese people.”
The White House, however, blasted the order, calling it “Orwellian nonsense.”
[FULL STORY]
