US airlines prepare to change references to China-claimed Taiwan as deadline nears
China ignores the Trump administration’s earlier objections and presses on with its ‘one China’ principle at US airlines which face penalities if they fail
Washington/Beijing — Major US airlines are expected to change how their websites refer to Chinese-claimed Taiwan by Wednesday in an effort to avoid Chinese penalties, three sources said, after co-ordination between the carriers and the US government. Beijing has demanded that foreign firms, and airlines in particular, not refer to self-ruled Taiwan as non-Chinese territory on their websites, along with Hong Kong and Macau, a move described by the White House in May as "Orwellian nonsense". China set a final deadline of July 25 for the changes, and last month rejected US requests for talks on the matter, adding to tension in relations already frayed by an escalating trade conflict. Numerous non-US airlines including Air Canada, Lufthansa and British Airways have already made changes to their websites, according to Reuters checks, after China’s Civil Aviation Administration sent a letter to 36 foreign air carriers earlier in the year. The carriers were told to remove references on the...
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