Chinese Government Demand Regarding Listing of Taiwan
During the last week of 2018 April the Chinese government pushed further in their lawfare battle with stage two. Sending letters to a reported 36 international airlines, including United States based airlines, the CCP demanded further “self-examination” and “rectification” after the first demand in late February regarding the listing of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao.
Here is the translation of the letter as reported to us (original Chinese letter here):
China Civil Aviation Administration General Division
Notice Relating to Rectification of the Official Website within a Specified Timeframe
United Airlines:
On February 27, 2018, our organization disseminated “Notice Requesting Foreign Airlines to Submit Self-examination Reports on their Website and Other Publicity Channels,” requiring your company to initiate a self-examination on your official website, app, and other publicity channels for references to Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan that mistakenly describe them as countries or anything otherwise inconsistent with Chinese law and take measures to correct these errors.
After investigation, our organization discovered that on your company’s official website, there still exists violations of Chinese laws and contradictions to the one-China policy of your government. The content of your company’s website should follow the regulations listed below in reference to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan:
One, on the website, under the “country” or “home country/ region” tabs, [you] shall not list Taiwan or Taiwan region equal to/ in parallel to China, there is to be no parallel listing of “China, Hong Kong and Taiwan”, Taiwan shall be called “Chinese Taiwan” or “Taiwan, province/region of China”;
Two, on the website, The map representation of China should include Taiwan, and have the same color for Hong Kong, Macao, [and] Taiwanese areas; and mainland China;
Three, If the website divides destination by country, [you] must not place “China” and “Taiwan” in parallel. If there is a need to distinguish between regions, you can refer to it as “China destinations” or “Chinese Taiwan (province/region) destinations”;
Four, the website should not classify Taiwan destinations into other geographical areas (such as Southeast Asia), and [the Taiwan destinations] should be classified under the China entry.
[We] now request that your company, in accordance with the above requirements, complete the changes and submit the rectification report within 30 days from the date of this letter. If it not corrected within this period, our bureau will take further measures according to regulations, including on the basis of Article 8, Section 11 of the ”Civil Aviation Industry Credit Management Measures (Trial Measures)”, and make a record of your company’s serious dishonesty and take disciplinary actions against your company in accordance with Chapter 3 of the Measures. At the same time, [we will] transfer your company’s violation of Chinese laws to the National Cyber Information Office and other law enforcement agencies to take administrative penalties according to law.
Josh Rogin gets it right in his WaPo article regarding the CCP demand, which is well worth reading:
Moreover, the Chinese letter mischaracterizes U.S. government policy by saying “the one-China policy of your government.” The United States does not have a one-China policy. Washington acknowledges Beijing’s position that there is one China that includes Taiwan and the United States takes no stance on that question. The U.S. government is not going to agree that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, and neither should American companies.
The White House issued a statement rebuffing the Chinese demand:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2018
Statement from the Press Secretary on China’s Political Correctness
President Donald J. Trump ran against political correctness in the United States. He will stand up for Americans resisting efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to impose Chinese political correctness on American companies and citizens.
On April 25, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration sent a letter to 36 foreign air carriers, including a number of American carriers. This notice demanded that carriers change how “Taiwan,” “Hong Kong,” and “Macao” are identified on their websites and in their promotional material so that the references fall in line with the Communist Party’s standards.
This is Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies.
China’s internal Internet repression is world-famous. China’s efforts to export its censorship and political correctness to Americans and the rest of the free world will be resisted.
The United States respects the broad freedom private companies have in their interactions with their customers, both in the United States and abroad. This respect is essential for a robust global marketplace.
The United States strongly objects to China’s attempts to compel private firms to use specific language of a political nature in their publicly available content.
We call on China to stop threatening and coercing American carriers and citizens.
It will be difficult for these companies to fight these demands from the Chinese Communist Party as the situation sits right now, even with this direct statement from The White House. The CCP has made it a policy to directly threaten financial loss to force businesses or others to do CCP’s political dirty-work. The unfortunate reality is businesses will typically make the choice that causes the least impact to profit and share-holders.
The White House statement is certainly an improvement from the past, when the most one could hope for would be a mealy-mouthed reply at the daily Department of State presser. However, based on CCP’s actions in the past, there is no doubt they will simply ignore the statement and raise the stakes till U.S. companies comply.
The lawfare weapon needed in this battle is a U.S. policy that any airline flying into the United States must list Taiwan separately from and equal to any other country on their websites, apps, or public documents, since the official U.S. position is that China does not have sovereignty over Taiwan. Of course that policy would be backed with fines that would escalate in order to cause direct material financial impact.
Additionally, the U.S. should immediately address the unequal agreement that kowtowed to China allowing far more Chinese airlines flights into the U.S. than U.S. based airlines into China. Another front where the U.S. gave tribute to the CCP and now used as a weapon.
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