WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - Major U.S. airlines are expected to change how their websites refer to Chinese-claimed Taiwan by Wednesday in an effort to avoid Chinese penalties, three sources said, after coordination between the carriers and the U.S. government.
Beijing has demanded that foreign firms, and airlines in particular, not refer to self-ruled Taiwan as non-Chinese territory on their websites, along with Hong Kong and Macau, a move described by the White House in May as “Orwellian nonsense”.
China set a final deadline of July 25 for the changes, and last month rejected U.S. requests for talks on the matter, adding to tension in relations already frayed by an escalating trade conflict.
Numerous non-U.S. airlines including Air Canada (AC.TO), Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) and British Airways (ICAG.L) have already made changes to their websites, according to Reuters checks, after China’s Civil Aviation Administration sent a letter to 36 foreign air carriers earlier in the year.
The carriers were told to remove references on their websites and other materials that suggest Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are part of countries independent from China, but several U.S. operators, including Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) and United Airlines (UAL.N), had requested more time to handle the matter.
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