Japan airlines change 'Taiwan' to 'China Taiwan' on websites

Japan's two largest airlines have changed "Taiwan" to "China Taiwan" on their Chinese-language websites, officials said Tuesday, a move likely to please Beijing but anger the self-ruled island. The change was made on Jun 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. 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." "We do not mean any particular group of customers here but mean all customers," he said without elaborating further. The Chinese Civil Aviation Administration sent a notice to 36 foreign airlines in April, asking them to comply with Beijing's standard of referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as Chinese territories. Japan's ties with China are improving after years of acrimony over historical and territorial issues.<br/>