US airlines join Qantas in yielding on Taiwan

The biggest US airlines have kowtowed to China in removing any reference to Taiwan as a country from their websites.

Delta Air Lines says it remains in ‘close consultation with the US government’.

The US’s biggest airlines have kowtowed to China’s demand to remove any reference to Taiwan as a country from their websites, despite the White House slamming the request as “Orwellian nonsense.

American, Delta and United Airlines all observed the July 25 deadline to have Taiwan listed as a province of China rather than a country, joining inter­national carriers including Qantas, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Singapore Airlines.

They were among dozens of airlines sent a letter from China’s Civil Aviation Administration in April demanding the change be made, and threatening to refer the companies to the “relevant cybersecurity authorities” if they failed to comply.

The Qantas website now refers to Taiwan as being in China.

American Airlines’s spokeswoman Shannon Gilson confirmed changes had been implemented to address China’s request. “Air travel is a global business and we abide by the rules in countries where we operate,” she said.

United Airlines took a similar stand, justifying the change out of “respect for local laws and regu­lations in all markets and jurisdictions where we operate and conduct business”.

Delta Air Lines corporate communications manager, Ry­oko Matsumoto, said they remained in “close consultation with the US government” while implementing website changes in response to China’s CAA request.

A White House statement last weekend called on China to stop threatening and coercing US carriers and citizens.

“This is Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private com­panies,” read the statement from press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.