Well this is going to be costly. China will be blocking Marriott’s website and mobile app for the next week as punishment for what the world’s largest hotel chain has done. What horrible act did Marriott commit to deserve this punishment? In a Mandarin language questionnaire that they sent to customers earlier in the week, they listed Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan as separate countries, which China views as disrespecting Chinese sovereignty.
Per Reuters, a Marriott spokesperson issued the following statement through the company’s official Weibo account:
“Marriott International respects Chinese sovereignty and its territorial integrity…We sincerely apologize for any actions that led to misunderstanding on the aforementioned stance.”
The Chinese government is asking Marriott to “take down all relevant content, conduct a thorough check on all contents it posted on its website and online application to prevent anything similar, and address the public’s concern in a timely fashion to eliminate a negative impact.”

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