Six months after Australian Carrier Qantas was forced to amend its website details, removing any reference to Taiwan being a separate country to China, American carriers are now in the crosshairs of the Chinese government as it looks to enforce its One China Policy.
While territories such as Macau and Hong Kong are accepted as being part of mainland China after leases to the U.K and Portugal ended in 1997 and 1999 respectively, Taiwan has always been seen as a separate entity, an independently governed state since the formation of the communist regime 70 years ago. The Chinese government continually refuses to accept that Taiwan, (often referred to as the Republic of China ROC), is independent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and is now towing a hard line on those who choose not to follow suit.
With tensions rising over a trade dispute between the U.S and China, the Chinese government has refused to hold talks requested by the U.S. on the matter and has bluntly asked the U.S. to advise its airlines to amend their websites in order to show that Taiwan is part of the PRC.
Speaking at a daily news briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said it was the broad consensus in the international community that there was only one China and that Taiwan was part of it, and that this was not up for negotiation. Foreign companies operating in China must respect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the feelings of the Chinese people, he added.
“I again stress, the ‘one China’ principle is the political basis of Sino-U.S. ties, and brooks no negotiations or consultations,” Lu said. “The U.S. government should urge the relevant companies to scrupulously abide by the one China principle and rectify their websites as soon as possible.”
