Beijing wants Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be fully regarded as Chinese territories.
Four U. S. airlines have failed to satisfy China’s aviation regulator over their website descriptions of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
China is asking foreign companies to avoid referring to Taiwan in particular as a country in its own right. Beijing policy dictates that China will refuse diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the island as a sovereign state.
At present most sovereign states only hold official diplomatic recognition with the mainland People’s Republic of China (PRC), designating it, with some ambiguity, as the sole representative of China. Just 17 of 163 United Nations formally hold diplomatic relations with Taiwan, also referred to as the Republic of China (ROC).
In May, Washington described the Chinese demands over Taiwan naming as «Orwellian nonsense» and requested talks on the matter. China refused to engage and set a deadline of July 25 for firms, especially airlines, to make the changes.
