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United Offers Unique Solution to One China Request

Frankfurt, Germany - July 17, 2014: United Airlines aircraft logo at an aircraft in Frankfurt. United Airlines is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Beijing recently took aim at the United States as part of its One China campaign, ordering a number of international airlines to refer to Taiwan as a part of China on their websites—a move the White House called “Orwellian nonsense.” Some airlines have come up with unique workarounds to satisfy everyone, though.

Taiwan recently thanked United Airlines for its effort to differentiate it from China in a unique way, following China’s demand that international airlines refer to Taiwan as part of the mainland country. The demand is part of Beijing’s One China campaign, which is aiming for reunification—even if by force—of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

In response to the demand, United removed all three place names from its website, and instead added only the city name and airport code, and new currency designations—New Taiwan Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, and Chinese Yuan—alongside fare information for different international destinations during searches.

Li Hsien-chang, Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokesman, extended thanks to the airline for being flexible with the demand while also avoiding references to One China and Taiwanese independence.

“We would be glad to see any flexible workaround that differentiates Taiwan subjectively from China, in any means at all,” Li told the South China Morning Post.

As far as the White House is concerned, they referred to the request from China as “Orwellian nonsense”—though United and three other carriers complied with unique workarounds to the demand. Most of the other 44 international airlines targeted by the One China campaign have changed their information to say the “China Taiwan Region” or “Taiwan, China.”

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