CITY NAMES: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the firms for their reluctance, while the US Department of State reiterated its stance against Beijing’s pressure
Taipei Times
Date: Jul 26, 2018
By Nadia Tsao and William Hetherington / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON, with staff writer
Three major US airlines have changed their Web sites to refer to Taiwan only by
US Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert speaks at a press briefing in Washington yesterday, saying that the US is opposed to China’s demand that US airlines change how they refer to Taiwan. Photo: Nadia Tsao, Taipei Times
city names, in response to Beijing’s demand that the changes be made by yesterday.
Reuters on Tuesday reported that the three major US carriers — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines — had agreed to meet China’s request to change the way they refer to Taiwan online.
An unnamed US official was quoted as saying that the US Department of State had on Monday promised China’s embassy in Washington that the carriers’ English and Chinese-language Web sites would only display city names for Taiwan and would remove references to Taiwan as a nation.
American Airlines yesterday morning was the first to comply, changing references from “Taipei, Taiwan,” to only “Taipei.” [FULL STORY]
