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© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Qantas bends to Beijing by describing Taiwan as Chinese
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oldman_13
Who are these cowards to continue to kowtow to Beijing?
Grow a backbone!!!
sf2k
Geez, get off your knees Qantas
theResident
Sadly, it would appear that many of the biggest airlines have caved into Beijing over this issue. Right or wrong, sadly their business to the PRC is worth a lot of money (and growing). For years, foreign carriers had to operate a subsidiary airline to be able to fly to Taipei. ( British Airways Asia which went via HK, KLM Asia just two off the top of my head). In fact without doing any other research ANA still maintain a small subsidiary known as Air Japan whose aircraft they utilize on flights to Taiwan. The planes fly under ANA livery with a small 'Air Japan' logo towards the rear of of the bellies of the planes.
Peter14
Another sad day for Aussies. Being pushed around by China does not sit well with citizens down under. I would rather Qantas stand up for itself and tell Beijing that it will run its business as it see's fit.
RationalReader
Shameful. But it is good to see that the insecurities persist in Beijing. The dictators are never free from fear, nor from doubt. And they should not be. Freedom will triumph in the end.
goldorak
Pretty sad news for the sizable community of Taiwanese & Hong Kongese who call Australia home. They're basically being told 'you guys are chinese/ chinese strayans, forget about Taiwan'.
Strangerland
Qantas is a private commercial airline, flying all over the world. It's hard to expect commercial entities to take on political issues head-on themselves. Does the Australian government recognized Taiwan as an independent nation?
RationalReader
Imagine a serious mature country dealing with these issues. Would the UK insist that any airline flying there recognize the Falklands as British, or Japan insist that the Senkakus are recognized as Japanese, or Spain insist that Gibraltar is recognized as Spanish? Of course not. Not only would it be demeaning for a democratic government to flail around trying to control the speech of private corporations, also they would be laughed out of court on free speech grounds (not a concern, of course, for a third world dictatorship).
theResident
@Strangerland: Correct question..to which you know the answer. No.
econstats
ANA lists Taiwan as a country.
Matt Hartwell
Australians would not support this move, but neither will they do much about it.
What gets me is that China thinks this changes peoples minds about Taiwan somehow LOL. The only people in Australia that consider Taiwan part of China are the Chinese nationalists living here, meaning at least 95% of the population see Taiwan as a sovereign country.
This will not change the mind of single Australian to view matters any differently.
The government follows the one-China principle. The people support Taiwan independence.
seadog538
Trade transcends politics!
Strangerland
I didn't actually know the answer. I originally wrote my comment under the assumption that Australia doesn't recognize Taiwan as an independent nation, but then I realized I didn't know if that was true, which is why I re-wrote it to ask that question.
Assuming you're correct, then I think it's hard to expect Qantas, a company that needs to make profits, to take a stand their government doesn't even take.
OssanAmerica
Well yes. But not in a totalitarian dictatorship that combines trade and economics with geopolitics and strategic goals. This all begs the question of when (not if) China invades Taiwan will the free world stand up to it? China is using it's economic might to undermine the West's ability and will to ever stand up to it. And they have been doing so for some time now.
goldorak
I don't think the vast majority of ppl were expecting Qantas to 'defy' China over Taiwan designation tbh yet ppl would have liked them (qantas) to keep things as they were and 'resist'.
No one's really 'blaming' them for doing what's best for their biz though. All criticism (including oz govt itself) has been directed at China for pressuring foreign private businesses to push their political agenda & brainwashing of the masses.
Spot on.
JonathanJo
One solution might be for airlines to simply refer to airports by IATA code. Unless China objects to "TPE" per se.
nandakandamanda
The reality on the ground is that ROC Taiwan is an independent country.
PRC China may want to change this status by any means, by power harrassment, and including finally even by force, but that is another kind of reality.
Akie
"Own corporate decisions"? What kind of diplomat does Australia have ? All decisions, corporate or not, have to be based on laws, and the law syas that Taiwan is a part of China.
Matt Hartwell
China has every right to request that businesses operating in China and with websites directed towards mainland China follow the rules on the Taiwan issue. They do not have a right to insight that global websites are changed which could be targeted mostly non Chinese. I would draw the line there personally.
Regardless, I don't do business in China. I don't really care what Qantas does. Their views on Taiwan mean nothing to me. Its a private company and I am a private citizen.
Matt Hartwell
Completely wrong. There is no law in Australia demanding private companies address Taiwan or China any particular way. The government follows the one-China principle in its dealings with China but its up to private companies and citizens as to what they do regarding the issue. There is nothing decreed from upon high.