Mainland Fines Muji For Listing Taiwan As Country

Japanese retailer Muji has been fined 200,000 yuan in Shanghai for using packaging that lists Taiwan as a country.

This marks the second time Muji has been hit by such criticism from the mainland this year, and comes after a number of foreign firms including Delta Air Lines and Marriott International have apologised for similar actions.

The Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce said Muji had imported 119 clothes hangers from Japan last year in packaging that showed Taiwan as the “country of origin”.

It said the packaging violated mainland's advertising law which warns against hurting China’s dignity and interests. Muji said it would make stringent efforts to comply with the regulations.

The retailer also pulled a catalogue in January after authorities complained that it had published an “inaccurate” map with wrong borders and missing islands.

The mainland has been increasing its efforts to police language used by firms to describe territories such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

In January, US carrier Delta apologised for listing Taiwan and Tibet as countries on its website, while hotel chain Marriott International’s Chinese website was suspended for a week for listing Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as separate countries in a customer questionnaire.