The Republic of China is an independent nation and its efforts to ameliorate relations with other members of the international community will not be affected by Chinese oppression, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said yesterday.
The statement was made in response to the China National Tourism Administration’s request that accommodation companies review their Web sites and apps to change what Beijing deems the inaccurate labeling of Taiwan and other nations that China claims as its territory.
The move is an expansion on efforts by Beijing to police how foreign businesses refer to territories claimed by Beijing on their Web sites.
Photo: AFP
The ministry has asked its missions overseas to contact the companies and express Taiwan’s stern position on the matter and denounce Beijing’s arbitrary acts, Lee said.
The Chinese government on Thursday suspended Marriott International Inc’s Chinese Web site for a week to punish the world’s largest hotel chain for listing Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau as separate nations on a customer questionnaire.
Activities that challenge China’s “legal red lines” will not be permitted, Xinhua news agency quoted a China tourism administration official as saying.
The administration ordered immediate and thorough checks of Web sites and apps by accommodation companies to ensure that they comply with the law, it said.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China on Friday demanded that Delta Air Lines Inc apologize for listing Taiwan and Tibet as nations on its Web site, while another government agency took aim at Inditex-owned fashion brand Zara and medical device maker Medtronic PLC for similar issues.
Marriott, Delta, Zara and Medtronic have all apologized.
The Chinese aviation authority on Friday ordered all foreign airlines operating routes to China to check their Web sites and apps.
The crackdown was accompanied by an outcry from Chinese neitzens, who assisted with efforts to unearth other infractions.
Shanghai-based newspaper The Paper yesterday reported that it found 24 other foreign airlines with Web sites listing Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau as nations.
Most were in pull-down menus in registration or comments sections, it said.
“The essence of the problem is the ‘political arrogance’ of foreign companies unafraid to hurt the feelings of people from other countries,” Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily said in an editorial.
Additional reporting by Peng Wan-hsin
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US