Orwellian Nonsense – The US Rejects China’s ‘Claim’ Over Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau

The White House sharply criticized China’s attempts to force foreign airlines not to list Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau as independent states, calling its efforts to control the description of politically sensitive territories “Orwellian nonsense”.

Amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing over China’s trade surplus in the exchange between the two countries, the White House announced that the Chinese aviation administration sent a letter to 36 foreign airlines, including American ones, requesting changes. They were asked to remove information from their websites and other materials suggesting that Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are parts of states independent from China.

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The White House stated that President Donald Trump “will support those Americans who resist the attempts of the Chinese Communist Party to impose political correctness on American companies and citizens”.

“This is Orwellian nonsense and part of an increasingly strong trend by the Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies… We call on China to stop threatening and pressuring American carriers and residents,” it added.

Taiwan is the most sensitive territorial issue for China. Beijing considers this sovereign democratic island to be its renegade province. Hong Kong and Macau are former European colonies that are now parts of China but have significant autonomy.

A spokesperson for Airlines for America, which represents United Airlines, American Airlines, and other major airlines, announced on Saturday that they are working with the US government to determine “next steps” on this issue.

Delta Airlines apologized in January for a “careless mistake without business or political intent” when it listed Taiwan and Tibet as independent states on its website. China closed Marriott’s website for a week in January to punish the world’s largest hotel chain for listing Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau as separate states in its customer questionnaire. Australian Qantas Airways also announced in January that it had modified its website to no longer list Taiwan and Hong Kong as states.

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The strengthening of China’s desire to influence how foreign companies view the territories it claims, even if it is just about online menus, shows how sensitive the issue of sovereignty has become for China.

Chinese aviation authorities emphasized in January that they would require all foreign airlines operating in China to conduct thorough checks of their websites, applications, and user information and to “strictly adhere to Chinese laws and regulations to prevent similar occurrences in the future.”