Gap Irks China With Map on Shirt, Quickly Apologizes
May 15 2018 - 7:15AM
Dow Jones News
By Wayne Ma
BEIJING--Retailer Gap Inc. is the latest foreign company to
offend China's geopolitical sensibilities--and the latest to
apologize swiftly for the slight.
The San Francisco-based apparel company came under fire on
Chinese social media for selling T-shirts depicting a map of China,
but omitting Taiwan, disputed islands in the South China Sea and
parts of the semiautonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
"We were informed the design of a Chinese map on a Gap T-shirt
sold in some overseas markets was incorrect," Gap said Tuesday in a
statement posted to an official Chinese social media account. "The
product has been withdrawn from the Chinese market and completely
destroyed," it said.
Gap said it respects China's sovereignty and territorial
integrity, adding that it strictly abides by Chinese laws and
regulations. The company didn't immediately reply to a separate
request for comment.
Gap's statement follows similar apologies by other foreign
brands including Mercedes-Benz, the Zara apparel chain and hotel
giant Marriott International Inc. for online communications and
websites that rubbed China the wrong way on sensitive topics
involving Tibet and Taiwan.
Last month, China's aviation authority warned international
carriers to amend their websites to reflect China's sovereignty
claims over Taiwan, and to reflect accurately the status of Hong
Kong and Macau as Chinese territories, or face severe disruptions
to their operations in the world's second-busiest aviation
market.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders called the threat
"Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese
Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens
and private companies."
Though Taiwan has governed itself since 1949, Beijing regards
the island as an integral part of China. Tibet has been under
China's control for decades, though some Tibetans advocate its
independence.
For foreign companies, the risk of offending China could mean
exclusion from the world's largest consumer market. Gap opened its
first store in mainland China in 2010 and now has 27 stores there,
according to its website. Last year, the company opened its largest
China store in Shanghai.
The retailer doesn't break out China figures but its Gap stores
in Asia booked revenue of $1.12 billion, or 7% of net sales, in the
fiscal year ending Feb. 3. In Asia, it has more than 310 stores
across Japan, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 15, 2018 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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