Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has made headlines in Taiwan, after it was revealed that one of the carrier’s inflight announcements referred to Taiwan as part of China. This caused a bit of a diplomatic spat, and the airline was forced to apologize, though let’s see how China feels about this…
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Etihad enrages passengers with “Taiwan, China” announcement
A social media post of a traveler from Taiwan recently went viral, after they took an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Taipei (TPE). While the English arrival announcement said “welcome back to Taiwan,” the Mandarin version reportedly said “welcome back to Taiwan, China.” The announcement in Mandarin also said “passengers who bring meat products into the country will be fined by the Chinese government.”
The passenger confronted the flight attendant about the announcement, and it was confirmed that the script was read word-for-word, meaning it wasn’t just someone putting their spin on things, but instead, the official company announcement.
Many in Taiwan viewed this as a huge sign of disrespect, so this actually escalated quite a bit. Taiwan’s Deputy Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry said the following in response to this:
“The Republic of China is a sovereign and independent country, and neither it nor the People’s Republic of China is subordinate to the other. This is an objective fact and the internationally recognized status quo. Any improper practice that demeans our national sovereignty and status will never be accepted by the government or the people of Taiwan.”
Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration said Etihad has apologized for the announcement, and immediately updated the wording. The airline also said it would review its Taiwan related announcements and passenger service documents, to prevent further misunderstanding.
This is an area where travel brands just can’t win
People will have their own strong opinions in the China vs. Taiwan debate, and I certainly don’t think we’re going to achieve world peace in the comments section here, by simply yelling at one another over our differences. 😉
However, one thing that has to be acknowledged is how travel brands really can’t win when it comes to how they refer to Taiwan. If they refer to Taiwan as part of China, they enrage Taiwan. If they don’t refer to Taiwan as part of China, they enrage China.
Some may remember that back in 2018, China blocked Marriott’s website in the country for an entire week, because the hotel brand sent out a member survey where it listed Taiwan as a separate country, which China viewed as disrespecting Chinese sovereignty.
In response to that, Marriott released a statement saying that it “respects Chinese sovereignty and its territorial integrity,” and it wanted to “sincerely apologize for any actions that led to misunderstanding on the aforementioned stance.”
So when you go to Marriott’s website now, you’ll see that Taiwan is referred to as being part of China. This is now common among all hotel groups, since they didn’t want to end up with a similar punishment.
So yeah, make of it what you will, but travel brands can’t win, and they will infuriate one group or the other. One wonders if China will now lash out at Etihad, forcing the airline to change the announcements again, due to “disrespecting Chinese sovereignty.”
I should acknowledge that both Mainland China and Taiwan consider themselves to be China, at least officially — one is the Republic of China (ROC), and the other is the People’s Republic of China (PRC). But when a company refers to a place as Taiwan, China, it’s assumed that they’re suggesting that Taiwan is part of the latter rather than part of the former, especially with the Taiwanese government increasingly distancing itself from the “China” name.
Bottom line
Etihad Airways passengers flying to Taiwan were outraged when they discovered that the carrier’s announcement referred to Taiwan as part of China. This caused a diplomatic spat, with the Taiwanese government demanding immediate change. The airline did in fact apologize, and promised to update announcements.
The challenge for travel brands is that if you’re “respecting the sovereignty” of Taiwan, you’re not “respecting the sovereignty” of China, so you really can’t win.
What do you make of this Etihad diplomatic spat?
Sano is correct . The Republic of China ( Taiwan ) has free elections and other freedoms which are not allowed by the China PRC . Everyone saw what they did to HK and Tien An Am square .
They are just following big brother's lead by example.
"welcome back to Navajo nation, America.” “passengers who bring meat products into the country will be fined by the US government.”
Why on earth is it assumed that "China" refers to PRC in this context? The place the plane landed in is literally called Republic of China and it is governed by the rightful government of China. Just because the rest of China is occupied by PRC authorities doesn't change this.
I understand that this is a point of contention within Taiwan, and that the political party that has been in power since 2016 favours an independent Taiwanese identity.
It is utterly absurd that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, while currently in power, seek to overturn the Constitution of the Republic of China.