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Dior apologises for using China map without Taiwan | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Christian Dior has become the latest foreign brand to apologise to China after it used a map that Beijing sees as misrepresenting its territory. | |
The French luxury brand was criticised on Chinese social media after an employee reportedly used a China map in a presentation that excluded Taiwan. | |
Taiwan has been self-ruled since the 1950s, but Beijing's official policy is that the island is a Chinese province. | |
Dior apologised for the "mistake in representation" made by an employee. | |
The row broke out after a video was posted online anonymously claiming to show a Dior employee giving a talk at a university in China and showing the map. | |
It sparked a huge reaction on social media, as people complained that Dior was not respecting Chinese territorial claims. | |
"Dior statement" was one of the top 10 most searched items on Weibo on Thursday. | |
"The company firstly deeply apologises for the incident on 16 October 2019 where a member of the Dior HR team was... giving a presentation when [the employee] made a mistake in representation and gave an incorrect explanation," the company said in its statement. | |
Christian Dior said it had done a "diligent investigation", adding it would "seriously handle" the matter. | Christian Dior said it had done a "diligent investigation", adding it would "seriously handle" the matter. |
"Dior has always respected and upheld the principle of one China, strictly upholding China's rights and complete sovereignty, treasuring the feelings of Chinese citizens," it added. | "Dior has always respected and upheld the principle of one China, strictly upholding China's rights and complete sovereignty, treasuring the feelings of Chinese citizens," it added. |
In recent years, Chinese social media users have aggressively been pursuing companies which they believe are challenging China's territorial claims. | |
China is a huge market for luxury brands, so they are keen not to risk negative PR or a boycott by offending Chinese consumers. | |
Versace apologised in August after an image on one of its T-shirts appeared to imply Hong Kong and Macau were independent territories. | |
Coach and Givenchy have also faced a backlash recently over the representation of Chinese territories on some of their garments. | Coach and Givenchy have also faced a backlash recently over the representation of Chinese territories on some of their garments. |
Airlines and hotel chains have also had to apologise after listing Taiwan as a separate country on their booking menus, not as part of China. | |
Earlier this week, Vietnam banned the animated movie Abominable over another map row. | |
The film, the first tie-in between Dreamworks and China's Pearl Studio, briefly displayed a map that showed areas of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam as being Chinese territory. |
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