China Unsatisfied With `Incomplete' Changes by U.S. Airlines
China Unsatisfied With `Incomplete' Changes by U.S. Airlines
(Bloomberg) -- China said the changes U.S. airlines have agreed to make on how they refer to Taiwan is incomplete with the carriers seeking two more weeks to fully implement the requirement.
American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc. and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. are the last four foreign airlines out of 44 that didn’t fully comply with an order to reflect the island as part of China, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement Thursday. The deadline was yesterday. The regulator didn’t say what changes the airlines promised were incomplete.
U.S. airlines were altering their website displays for Taiwan, and refer to the island only by the city names of Taipei and Kaohsiung, or by airport codes. Route maps may no longer display a country label for Taiwan. The White House in May dismissed China’s directive as “Orwellian nonsense,” saying it was part of a trend by the Communist Party to impose its political views on U.S. citizens and private companies.
CAAC sent a letter in April to more than 40 foreign airlines telling them that they shouldn’t place China, Hong Kong and Taiwan on an equal footing, and must refer to “China Taiwan” or the “China Taiwan region.” Maps must display the territories in the same color as mainland China, the order said.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Dong Lyu in Beijing at dlyu3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net, Brendan Scott
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