Foreign firms face wrath of foreign ministry, aviation authority and social media users after making same mistake as hotel chain
The outrage in China over US hotel giant Marriott’s gaffe in which it listed Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as independent countries, has spread to a clutch of other well-known international brands as angry internet users sought to “expose” foreign businesses for not respecting Chinese sovereignty.
Not that the upset caused by the Marriott saga was restricted to social media users, however. China’s foreign ministry also saw fit to react on Friday.
“We welcome foreign enterprises to do business in China,” ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.
“Meanwhile, they should respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, abide by Chinese law, and respect the Chinese peoples’ feelings, which are the foundation for any corporation to do business in any country.”
The row with the hotel chain began on Tuesday when a Chinese-language questionnaire it emailed to its customers referred to Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as countries.
Marriott in more trouble after ‘liking’ Twitter post by Tibetan independence group
But Marriott was not alone in causing offence with its geographical inaccuracies.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China said that it had summoned executives of Delta Air Lines after the company was found to have listed Taiwan and Tibet as independent countries on its website. It said it had also asked the airline to rectify the mistake.
Delta issued a public apology on Friday, saying it had made a “grave mistake”.
The administration said it had asked all foreign airlines to check their websites for similar indiscretions.
Meanwhile, international fashion brand Zara and medical equipment maker Medtronic were ordered by the internet regulator in Shanghai to update their websites after they too were found to have to referred to Taiwan as a country.
The two companies complied with the request and also issued public apologies on their Chinese websites.
Chinese probe into Marriott hotels over geography gaffe in customer survey
The discoveries were shared across Chinese social media platforms, and internet users across the country expressed their displeasure.
