Roger Fingas
A think tank linked to the Chinese government is criticizing Apple, Amazon, Nike and other foreign companies for using "incorrect labels" in reference to Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Of the world's 500 biggest corporations, 66 are mislabeling Taiwan, 53 are mislabeling Hong Kong, and 45 are guilty of both, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a report seen by Reuters. The study, still not public, was done in conjunction with the Internet Development Research Institution at Peking University.
China has been intensifying pressure on foreign companies since last year, hoping to get them to legitimize its view of the above territories.
Once controlled as a British colony, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 but still exists as a semi-autonomous region. Apple and others often treat it as distinct from China, mostly since it has its own currency and a unique market, and most of its residents speak Cantonese instead of Mandarin.
More contentious is Taiwan. Though it has existed as an independent entity for decades, the Chinese government considers it a rogue province and has threatened military force if it formally declares independence. China also refuses diplomatic relations with countries that recognize the Taiwanese republic, though in practice most of the world's biggest powers have informal relations, including the U.S. — whose military commitments have kept China at bay.
Apple maintains separate websites for both Hong Kong and Taiwan. It does make references to Taiwan as being part of China on the Web, but at least in the U.S. version of Apple Maps the country's capital, Taipei, is marked as independent.
The company has often tread a thin line between appeasing China versus recognizing reality and living up to its stated principles. Critics have accused Apple of being too quick to bend to government demands, and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses despite claiming to champion them elsewhere. This is presumably because of the size of the Chinese market, even with increasingly disappointing iPhone sales contributing to a $5 billion shortfall in December-quarter revenue.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
21 Comments
From a historical perspective, the mainland's attitude and official position are completely understandable, but I've always thought that talks about peaceful reunification would actually be far easier if they started from the acknowledgement that there are, in effect, two independent countries in play here. Is anyone remotely surprised that telling Taiwan that it's just a rebellious province that needs to come in from the cold hasn't been very helpful?
Tibet joined with China. Sure, they were all sent off to internment camps, but no one cared. What could Taiwan have to fear?
“Think” Tank? Sounds like just the opposite. Ministry of Correct Think maybe. 1984.
China is copying US ideology of political correctness PC.
If it hadn't been for the size of the Chinese market, as well as China's expansion into basically every market there is (especially Africa; Kenya is even about to start teaching Mandarin in all primary schools), then the world would easily have been very vocally on the side of the people wanting nothing more than a democratic say about their own lives; meaning areas like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Last year in Hong Kong the Hong Kong National Party got banned for nothing more than being pro-independence on a peaceful political level; simply having those pro-democracy thoughts were enough for China to ban them due to "national security concerns". And they weren't even a new movement, but rather it was China working harder on getting Hong Kong to become more tightly integrated with the mainland.
No matter what ones thoughts might be about these regions, and what would be best for them and/or mainland China, one can't ignore the fact that the world is keeping quiet because of nothing else than their fear/desire of Chinese capital.
As long as the person being ethnically Chinese other countries have even been very quiet about their citizens being arrested and/or disappeared in China; like with these Hong Kong booksellers that were an inconvenience to some high-ranking Chinese political leaders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causeway_Bay_Books_disappearances.