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More carriers agree to China’s demand to change how they refer to Taiwan

American Airlines and Cathay Pacific have become the latest airlines to accede to Chinese demand to not refer to Taiwan as a separate country.

According to the BBC the carriers have removed references to Taiwan from its listing, instead listing Taipei and referring to it as being a part of China.

The region has been self-ruing since 1949 but the Chinese government considers it to be a province that will eventually be reunited with mainland China.

The government in Beijing has set a July 25 deadline for all references to Taiwan as a separate country to be removed from company and airline websites.

The BBC says many major airlines British Airways, Air France-KM, Lufthansa and Qantas have already agreed to comply but Delta and United Airlines continue to hold out.

An American Airlines spokeswoman said: “Like other carriers, American is implementing changes to address China’s request.

“Air travel is global business, and we abide by the rules in countries where we operate”.

In April, China’s Civil Aviation Administration wrote to more than 40 airlines telling them to abide by its regulations and sovereignty claims, and threatening sanctions.

Beijing demanded that neither Taiwan and Hong Kong nor Macau should be listed as separate places in for instance drop-down menus of company websites.

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