French luxury brand Christian Dior has issued an apology to China after using a map without Taiwan, which it deemed misrepresented its territory.
Dior issued an apology to China after receiving criticism on Chinese social media when one of its employees used a map that excluded Taiwan in a presentation. While Taiwan has been self-governed since the 1950s, Chinese official policy maintains that the island is a province of China
Dior apologized that its employee made a "mistake in representation". The social media outrage began when a video was anonymously posted online which allegedly showed a Dior employee giving a talk at a university in China and showing the map.
The incident made "Dior statement" among the top 10 most searched items on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Thursday.
Dior issued a statement saying: "The company firstly deeply apologises for the incident on 16 October 2019 where a member of the Dior HR team was... giving a presentation when [the employee] made a mistake in representation and gave an incorrect explanation."
The company claimed that it had done a "diligent investigation" and that it would "seriously handle" the matter. It added: "Dior has always respected and upheld the principle of one China, strictly upholding China's rights and complete sovereignty, treasuring the feelings of Chinese citizens."
In the past years, Chinese social media users have aggressively been pursuing companies which they deem to be challenging the country's territorial claims. And since China is a large market for luxury brands, companies have been careful not to risk negative public relations or a boycott from Chinese consumers.
In August, Versace apologized after an image on one of its T-shirts appeared to imply that Hong Kong and Macau were independent from China. Meanwhile, Coach and Givenchy have also faced criticism over the representation of Chinese territories on some of their designs.
