China ire over Taiwan directed at Qantas

China has given Qantas extra time to clarify how it ­refers to ­Taiwan after threatening to punish major airlines.

Qantas has declined to comment on its correspondence with Chinese authorities.

The Chinese government has given Qantas extra time to clarify how it ­refers to ­Taiwan after threatening to punish major airlines if they fail to describe the ­island as part of China.

Qantas has not yet complied with China’s edict, despite a slew of global airlines changing how they refer to Taiwan ahead of today’s deadline reportedly set by Chinese authorities.

British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, Air Canada and Thai Airways are among major airlines that refer to the island as “Taiwan, China” on their websites.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China last month wrote to 36 airlines, including Qantas, telling them that they must refer to Taiwan as part of China.

Qantas has declined to comment on its correspondence with Chinese authorities but the publication Foreign Policy has reported that the letter to US airlines said they would be referred to “the relevant cyber-security authorities” if they did not comply.

GRAPHIC: Toeing the line on Taiwan

The White House was scathing of China’s move, describing it as ­“Orwellian nonsense”. Globally, companies have been particularly sensitive after China blocked ­access to hotel chain Marriott International’s local website for a week after it listed Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as separate countries in a questionnaire sent to customers.

US clothing chain Gap apologised last week after it sold T-shirts that failed to have the “correct” map of China.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said yesterday the government would “continue to liaise closely” with Qantas.

“The Australian government remains committed to a one-China policy,” Ms Bishop said.

“The terms that private companies choose to list destinations are a matter for them. There should be no pressure from governments, whether ours or others, that threatens the ordinary operations of business. Until now the parties involved have been able to agree on a workable solution and we hope that can continue.”

The extension to comply with China’s demand applies to Qantas Airways and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar.

Yesterday, the Qantas website referred to “Taipei, Taiwan” in the drop-down menu on its home page. British Airways, in contrast, referred to “Taiwan — China”.

A Qantas Group spokeswoman said yesterday: “We made adjustments to our websites earlier this year and, along with various other airlines worldwide, have been given additional time to further clarify how we refer to Chinese territories.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said it was “entirely a matter for Qantas, or any other company, how it chooses to best promote the destinations it flies to”.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s director of defence and strategy, Michael Shoebridge, said the Chinese demands to airlines were a “lesson in how much messaging matters to China”.

“No detail is too small to go unaddressed,” he said.

Mr Shoebridge said he thought the Chinese government was “feeling much more confident in seeking to influence behaviour of companies as well as governments and political organisations”.

If many of the world’s airlines changed their references to Taiwan, “then that makes it easier for you to pressure the ones that don’t change”, he said.

Qantas finds itself in a delicate position. This year the carrier was accused on social media of bowing to “bullying” after it effectively stopped listing Taiwan as a separate country by changing category headings for destinations on parts of its website. This followed a warning to foreign carriers by China’s authorities against referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as countries.

The lucrative Chinese market is an increasingly important one for Qantas.

Last year, as travel between China and Australia boomed, Qantas restarted daily flights from Sydney to Beijing after a seven-year gap following the global financial crisis. The flights are in addition to existing flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Qantas also code-shares with China Airlines to Taipei, although the flight is on China Airlines aircraft. Qantas also signed a deal with the online travel booking arm of Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba.

The Washington Post reported that a version of China’s letter addressed to United Airlines said that if the carrier did not comply by May 25, the government would “take disciplinary actions” and refer the airline to the National Cyber Information Office and other law-enforcement agencies to take administrative penalties.