Taipei urges world community to defy China over Taiwan designation

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Following a statement from the United States government criticizing China's request that American airlines not list Taiwan as a country on their websites, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday expressed thanks to Washington and urged the international community to resist such demands made by Beijing.

The White House issued a statement Saturday rejecting China's attempted interference with a number of American carriers over the name of Taiwan.

According to the statement, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration on April 25 sent a letter to 36 foreign airlines, including a number of American carriers.

China demanded changes to the way "Taiwan," "Hong Kong," and "Macau" are identified on their websites and in their promotional materials to fall in line with the Communist Party of China's standards, the statement said.

The ministry sincerely appreciated the U.S. expressing strong disapproval of the coercive attempts made by China to serve its political purposes, ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee (李憲章), told CNA Sunday.

Lee characterized the way China tries to control private firms from other countries as "arbitrary and ill-intentioned." He also called on the international community to take the issue seriously and to have the courage to defy such unreasonable demands.