Bowing to a request by Beijing, Hong Kong’s air carriers have changed their destination listing of Taiwan online to reflect China’s claim to the island.
Formerly listed as a separate entity, the self-governed island is now referred to as “Taiwan, China” by the city’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific, its subsidiary Cathay Dragon, and smaller operators Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airlines.
The change occurred as of Wednesday morning, and makes the companies the latest airlines to give in to pressure from Beijing in regards to Taiwan’s classified.
It follows a request by the Civil Aviation Administration of China sent to 40 international airlines in April, demanding they stop referring to Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate entities. The deadline to conform was today.
According to Bloomberg, several American airlines have also caved to the demands, despite the White House in May calling the request “Orwellian nonsense.”
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines will change the Taiwan references over the coming days, the news agency reported.
Carriers including Qantas, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have already complied with China’s wishes.
In an emailed statement, Cathay said that its airlines were registered as part of “the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China.”
“We must comply with the regulations and requirements of the relevant civil aviation authorities,” it said.
Taiwan separated from China amid civil war in 1949, but Beijing continues to claim it as its own territory, despite the communist mainland government never having controlled the island, which has a population of nearly 24 million, its own military, currency, and democratically elected government.
Beijing has ramped up efforts to isolate Taiwan, leveraging access to its lucrative market to force companies to recognize its position on the territory.
With reporting from AFP.
