JPMorgan Tells Staff: Make It Clear Taiwan Is Part of China
JPMorgan Tells Staff: Make It Clear Taiwan Is Part of China
(Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., which is in the process of building its presence in China, has told some staff to ensure that they don’t refer to Hong Kong, Macau or self-governing Taiwan as separate countries.
The regions should on first reference be Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan, China, Stuart Marston, supervisory analyst global manager, said in a recent email, which was seen by Bloomberg News. JPMorgan has also added a note in its disclosures section to clarify usage, according to the email. The language wasn’t used in numerous prior research notes published over the past few months though reports in recent days are incorporating the changes.
Lisa Liang, a Beijing-based spokeswoman, declined to comment on content of the email.
International companies doing business in China face increasing pressure as unrest in Hong Kong and the trade war with the U.S. increase national sensitivities. A growing list of global brands, from Versace to Calvin Klein, have been forced to apologize in recent months after an army of Chinese internet users called them out for identifying one of the three as countries.
| Brands Facing China Backlash | Parent (headquarters) | What They Did |
|---|---|---|
| Versace | Capri Holdings Ltd. (U.K.) | T-shirt lists Hong Kong and Macau as countries |
| Coach | Tapestry Inc. (U.S.) | T-shirt lists Hong Kong as a city and country; Taiwan as a country |
| Givenchy | LVMH (France) | T-shirt lists Hong Kong as a city and country; Taiwan as a country |
| Asics | Asics Corp. (Japan) | Website lists Hong Kong and Taiwan as countries |
| Swarovski | privately held (Austria) | Website lists Hong Kong as a country |
| Calvin Klein | PVH Corp. (U.S.) | Website lists Taiwan as a country |
| Cle De Peau Beaute | Shiseido Co. (Japan) | Website classifies Hong Kong and Taiwan as countries |
Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions within China, and Beijing also considers Taiwan part of its territory. Independence-leaning Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has been vocal in her support for Hong Kong’s protesters, and has seen her support ratings rebound since the movement began as voters on the island recoil at the scenes unfolding in Hong Kong.
JPMorgan has led its American rivals in pushing into China’s $43 trillion financial industry, seeking to take advantage of government efforts to open up the sector to foreign competition. It’s so far the only U.S. firm that has been granted approval to take a majority stake in an onshore Chinese securities joint venture.
--With assistance from Cathy Chan, Karen Leigh and Cindy Wang.
To contact the reporters on this story: Debby Wu in Taipei at dwu278@bloomberg.net;Fion Li in Hong Kong at fli59@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Candice Zachariahs at czachariahs2@bloomberg.net, Sam Mamudi
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