Seven & i Holdings Co’s China-based convenience store business was fined for identifying Taiwan as an independent country on its Web site, the latest crackdown by China against companies over its stance on disputed territories.
Seven & i operates the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores.
Fines of about 150,000 yuan (US$23,530) were imposed by the Beijing local authority against Seven & i, a spokesman for the Japanese retailer said, confirming an earlier report in the Nikkei newspaper.
Photo: Bloomberg
Enterprises operating in China — from Gap Inc and Daimler AG, to airlines including United Continental Holdings Inc and ANA Holdings Inc — have apologized or changed their Web sites after depicting Taiwan as a separate state. The companies usually comply, accepting it as part of the cost of doing business in China.
Seven & i “is taking the issue seriously and making sure to prevent a recurrence,” the company’s spokesman said.
Beijing’s municipal authorities last month issued the fine and a warning, a government-linked credit information Web site showed. Seven & i also failed to use Chinese names for some South China Sea islands as well as for the disputed Diaoyu Islands (釣魚島), known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, and which are also claimed by Taiwan.
The map contained alleged errors in labeling some borders along the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region, the online report said.
While Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions with greater autonomy, Beijing also objects to references indicating that they are independent.
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