Giving In to China, 44 Airlines Stop Calling Taiwan|中國迫改台灣名 國際44航空全屈服

Aside from challenging Taiwan's rights to host championships, China has also demanded 44 airlines not to list Taiwan as a country.


On the website of American Airlines, the name Taiwan has been replaced by Taipei. China recently demanded 44 airlines from around the world not to list Taiwan as a country, and to change the names by July 25. All 44 companies have made changes by the deadline.

American Airlines and the Japan-based All Nippon Airways have replaced "Taiwan" with "Taipei", whereas the Malaysia Airlines changed the name to Taipei, China Taiwan, the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines changed the name to Taiwan China, and Air India changed the name to Chinese Taipei. On the other hand, the United States Department of State reiterated their position against the demand, saying that airlines in the United States shouldn't have fallen in line.

We would oppose a government's demand on private corporations that private corporations label something the way that the government demands it to do that. I was not aware that the companies said they would give in to the Chinese government. So I would just refer you back to those American companies.

The One China Policy is a commonly recognized rule among the international community. It is also the foundation for U.S.-China relations. I think the U.S. government understands that really well.

During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang acknowledged the changes by all airlines. On the other hand, Taiwan's Foreign Affairs Ministry denounced the demand, calling it an effort to lower Taiwan's position in the international community. Former Foreign Minister Chen Chien-jen said that the government should work hard to break the cross-strait stalemate as soon as possible.

A longer term solution requires the government to break the cross-strait stalemate. They need to make some breakthroughs.

After all 44 airlines changed the designation for Taiwan on their website, it remains to be seen how this latest development affects the traveling of Taiwanese citizens.