There are just two days left for dozens of foreign airlines to decide whether to comply with Beijing’s orders or face consequences that could cripple their China business, including legal sanctions.
British Airways, Lufthansa and Air Canada are among 20 carriers that now refer to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing considers its territory, as a part of China on their global websites, in line with Beijing’s demands that the White House called “Orwellian nonsense”.
There are just two days left for dozens of foreign airlines to decide whether to comply with Beijing’s orders or face consequences that could cripple their China business, including legal sanctions.
Many have already sided with Beijing.
Airlines including Finnair, Garuda Indonesia, Asiana Airlines, and Philippine Airlines have complied by listing Taiwan as part of China in order to bring their global websites in line with the Chinese Communist Party’s vision, Associated Press reported.
SAS airlines, Swissair, Malaysia Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air, Aeroflot, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Air Mauritius, Etihad Airways, Spain’s Iberia, Israel’s El Al, MIAT Mongolian Airlines and Russia’s S7 Airlines also refer to Taiwan as part of China, but it was not immediately clear how long they had been using that formulation.
Lufthansa, British Airways, Air Canada and Finnair said they abide by laws and regulations internationally and in the jurisdictions in which they work.
“This includes taking customs of the international clientele into consideration,” Lufthansa said in a statement, adding that we “seek your understanding for the situation.”
Finnair said a decision was taken to amend the website earlier this year and “in line with the general view taken in Europe, Taiwan is not shown as an independent country in our list of destinations.”
Major US carriers have not yet caved. United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta and Hawaiian Airlines, as well as Australia’s Qantas Airways — all of which received April letters from the regulator — did not refer to Taiwan as part of China on their websites as of Tuesday.
The airlines told AP they were reviewing the request.
But the sweep of concessions will likely make it harder to resist Beijing’s call.
This month, US clothing retailer The Gap apologised for selling T-shirts with a map of China that omitted Taiwan and pulled the offending merchandise from stores around the world. In January, Delta Airlines, Marriott, Zara and medical equipment maker Medtronic all publicly apologised for referring to Taiwan as a country.