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| Air China Will Fly You to London, and Warn You About Dark-Skinned People There | Air China Will Fly You to London, and Warn You About Dark-Skinned People There |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The Chinese Communist Party wants China to be regarded as an increasingly sophisticated global player taking its rightful place on the world stage. | The Chinese Communist Party wants China to be regarded as an increasingly sophisticated global player taking its rightful place on the world stage. |
| But every now and then, provincial attitudes of some Chinese slip into the spotlight, causing national embarrassment. | But every now and then, provincial attitudes of some Chinese slip into the spotlight, causing national embarrassment. |
| Such was the case Wednesday, when these words from a recent Air China in-flight magazine article about London circulated online: | Such was the case Wednesday, when these words from a recent Air China in-flight magazine article about London circulated online: |
| Air China is the country’s state-run flag carrier. The article appeared in Wings of China, under a section titled “Tips From Air China” on visiting London. Almost one-third of the magazine was dedicated to tourist attractions in London and other well-known British tourist towns, according to Haze Fan, a producer for CNBC in Beijing who brought attention to the passage by tweeting a photograph of it on Tuesday. | Air China is the country’s state-run flag carrier. The article appeared in Wings of China, under a section titled “Tips From Air China” on visiting London. Almost one-third of the magazine was dedicated to tourist attractions in London and other well-known British tourist towns, according to Haze Fan, a producer for CNBC in Beijing who brought attention to the passage by tweeting a photograph of it on Tuesday. |
| “A piece of advice in Air China in-flight magazine. What does @MayorofLondon think?” Ms. Fan wrote, trying to get a reaction from Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, via his official Twitter account. | “A piece of advice in Air China in-flight magazine. What does @MayorofLondon think?” Ms. Fan wrote, trying to get a reaction from Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, via his official Twitter account. |
| Mr. Khan is from a family of Pakistani origin, and his home neighborhood, Tooting, in south London, has many South Asian immigrants. Mr. Khan did not reply to Ms. Fan in public. His Twitter posts regularly praise London’s multiculturalism and show him socializing with people of many different ethnicities. | |
| China considers Pakistan one of its main allies, and it tries to maintain cordial ties with India, though tensions over disputed Himalayan territory are a chronic sore point in that relationship. | China considers Pakistan one of its main allies, and it tries to maintain cordial ties with India, though tensions over disputed Himalayan territory are a chronic sore point in that relationship. |
| Air China later issued an apology on Twitter, saying that it does “not condone discrimination in any shape or form” and that copies of the magazine were being removed from all flights. The tweet was then deleted. | Air China later issued an apology on Twitter, saying that it does “not condone discrimination in any shape or form” and that copies of the magazine were being removed from all flights. The tweet was then deleted. |
| Joyce Zhang, a spokeswoman for Air China in Beijing, said in an emailed statement on Thursday that the article in Wings of China contained “inappropriate expressions.” She said the magazine was one of several publications provided as “entertainment reading’’ for passengers and its articles did not represent the opinions of Air China. | Joyce Zhang, a spokeswoman for Air China in Beijing, said in an emailed statement on Thursday that the article in Wings of China contained “inappropriate expressions.” She said the magazine was one of several publications provided as “entertainment reading’’ for passengers and its articles did not represent the opinions of Air China. |
| “After the problem was discovered, Air China immediately removed all copies of the magazine from all its flights, and demanded that Wings of China seriously draw a lesson from the incident, strengthen reviews of its contents and prevent similar problems from taking place again,’’ Ms. Zhang said. “As an airline that has flights across six continents, Air China always highly respects the culture and customs of people of every ethnicity in the world.’’ | “After the problem was discovered, Air China immediately removed all copies of the magazine from all its flights, and demanded that Wings of China seriously draw a lesson from the incident, strengthen reviews of its contents and prevent similar problems from taking place again,’’ Ms. Zhang said. “As an airline that has flights across six continents, Air China always highly respects the culture and customs of people of every ethnicity in the world.’’ |
| She passed on an apology that Wings of China issued through Air China, attributing its travel warning to an “editing error.” It said: | |
| Many Chinese make negative comments in private about people with darker skin color. In an article on CNBC’s website, Ms. Fan, who studied journalism at the University of Leeds, wrote that “Chinese companies have been criticized previously for their depictions of various races.” | Many Chinese make negative comments in private about people with darker skin color. In an article on CNBC’s website, Ms. Fan, who studied journalism at the University of Leeds, wrote that “Chinese companies have been criticized previously for their depictions of various races.” |
| She pointed to a recent online video advertisement for the clothes detergent Qiaobi that showed an attractive Chinese woman throwing a paint-smeared black man into a laundry machine, only for him to emerge, after being washed with the detergent, as a clean Asian man (presumably Han, the dominant Chinese ethnicity). | She pointed to a recent online video advertisement for the clothes detergent Qiaobi that showed an attractive Chinese woman throwing a paint-smeared black man into a laundry machine, only for him to emerge, after being washed with the detergent, as a clean Asian man (presumably Han, the dominant Chinese ethnicity). |
| In May, the detergent maker, Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd. Co., expressed “regret” over the ad, but also blamed foreign news organizations for “overamplification” of the ad. | In May, the detergent maker, Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd. Co., expressed “regret” over the ad, but also blamed foreign news organizations for “overamplification” of the ad. |
| Some British politicians have expressed outrage at the Air China magazine passage. The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that two members of Parliament, Rosena Allin-Khan and Virendra Sharma, publicly objected to the text and were contacting the Chinese ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming. | |
| “I am shocked and appalled that even today, some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements,” said Mr. Sharma, the Labour member of Parliament for Ealing Southall, according to The Telegraph. | “I am shocked and appalled that even today, some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements,” said Mr. Sharma, the Labour member of Parliament for Ealing Southall, according to The Telegraph. |
| “I have invited representatives of Air China to visit my constituency of Ealing Southall to see that a very multicultural area is safe, and would be of great value for those visiting London to see,” Mr. Sharma said. “I will await their response, and if an appropriate one is not forthcoming, I shall feel forced to question whether Air China is a fit company to operate in the U.K.” | “I have invited representatives of Air China to visit my constituency of Ealing Southall to see that a very multicultural area is safe, and would be of great value for those visiting London to see,” Mr. Sharma said. “I will await their response, and if an appropriate one is not forthcoming, I shall feel forced to question whether Air China is a fit company to operate in the U.K.” |
| Chinese tourists are flocking to Britain in greater numbers to buy luxury goods in the aftermath of the “Brexit” vote and slumping British pound, news organizations have reported. In 2015, Chinese visitors made 270,000 trips to Britain, an increase of 46 percent over the previous year, according to Visit Britain, an official tourism agency. | Chinese tourists are flocking to Britain in greater numbers to buy luxury goods in the aftermath of the “Brexit” vote and slumping British pound, news organizations have reported. In 2015, Chinese visitors made 270,000 trips to Britain, an increase of 46 percent over the previous year, according to Visit Britain, an official tourism agency. |
| In May, Queen Elizabeth II told a Metropolitan Police commander at a Buckingham Palace garden party that Chinese officials had been “very rude’’ during President Xi Jinping’s state visit in October 2015. It was a “testing time,” she said, in an official video of the party that was released by Buckingham Palace. | In May, Queen Elizabeth II told a Metropolitan Police commander at a Buckingham Palace garden party that Chinese officials had been “very rude’’ during President Xi Jinping’s state visit in October 2015. It was a “testing time,” she said, in an official video of the party that was released by Buckingham Palace. |
| Chinese and British officials have said that the two countries are enjoying a new “golden era” in relations. | Chinese and British officials have said that the two countries are enjoying a new “golden era” in relations. |