Many foreign companies operating in China have come under fire for listing Taiwan and Hong Kong as countries. As per a statement on the regulator’s WeChat account, The Shanghai office of the Cyberspace Administration of China reprimanded Spanish fast fashion retailer Zara and American medical device maker Medtronic for mentioning Taiwan as an independent country.
Both companies were ordered to apologies by Friday night, carry out “self-inspection” of their websites and apps and turn in rectification reports. “Shanghai Cyberspace Administration will further assess the situation depending on the rectification result,” the statement added. Both companies apologised and updated their websites. Medtronic posted a statement on the microblog platform Weibo, “Medtronic fully understands China’s stance on its territorial issues and we sincerely apologise for causing misunderstanding among the Chinese public.”
American hospitality chain Marriott came under fire for mentioning Tibet, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate countries in a customer questionnaire earlier this month and liking a Twitter post supporting Tibetan independence.
Despite Marriott’s apology reassuring the Chinese that the company doesn’t “support anyone who subverts the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China,” the Shanghai government demanded that Marriott close down its Chinese website and app for a week.
The Shanghai cyberspace administration’s statement also welcomed netizens to report such issues to safeguard a healthy online environment. Similar mistakes were noticed on the websites of companies, including Delta Air Lines and H&M. A Delta spokesperson informed that the company had updated its site. The series of public relations disasters has triggered an uproar on Chinese social media, with netizens calling for a boycott of foreign brands. “You first earned Chinese people’s money, and then hurt our feelings. I would like to ask you to leave China,” wrote one angry net user on Weibo.
