The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada to lodge a protest with Air Canada over its change of the nation’s name on its Web site, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said yesterday.
Taipei-bound flights are labeled as “Taipei, CN” on the airline’s Web site, and under its “flights to international destinations” section, Taipei is listed under China along with Beijing and Shanghai.
“Taiwan and Canada have enjoyed good partnerships in many areas, particularly in trade, culture, education and technology,” Lee said, adding that the ministry has asked the Canadian government to support its private companies in avoiding China’s “brutal political interference.”
China’s repeated attempts to browbeat foreign enterprises into toeing “its preposterous policy line” not only cannot change Taiwan’s receipt of international recognition for its achievements in freedom, democracy and human rights, but would also meet with repulsion from Taiwanese, Lee said.
The Mainland Affairs Council also criticized China over the change, saying that Beijing’s insistence on adopting a zero-sum mindset would only tear the two sides further apart.
The Chinese Civil Aviation Administration on April 25 sent a letter to 36 international airlines, including a number of US carriers, demanding that Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau be listed as a province or regions of China on their Web sites.
The White House on May 5 denounced Beijing’s letter in a statement, calling the demands “Orwellian nonsense.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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