Japan’s JAL, ANA change ‘Taiwan’ to ‘China Taiwan’ on websites
TOKYO: Japan’s two largest airlines have changed “Taiwan” to “China Taiwan” on their Chineselanguage websites, officials said yesterday, a move likely to please Beijing but anger the self-ruled island.
The change was made on June 12 and is meant to accommodate customers, Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) said.
The description remains “Taiwan” on their websites in Japanese and other languages.
Both carriers said they had not received any protest from Taiwan so far, though Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported Taiwan’s foreign ministry would lodge a complaint with the airlines through Japan’s de-facto diplomatic mission in Taipei.
“We made the judgement (to change the name) while consulting and reporting to the transport ministry and foreign ministry. The change came on June 12 as our preparations were done by then,” a spokesman at Japan Airlines said.
June 12 was the date of the historic summit between North Korea and the United States, which attracted international attention.
“We chose a description that is easy to understand and acceptable for users of our websites,” added the JAL official, who declined to be named.
A spokesman at ANA said the change was intended to make the description “easy to understand and acceptable for customers when they use our websites.” — AFP