Gap Irks China With Map on Shirt, Quickly Apologizes

By Wayne Ma 

BEIJING--Retailer Gap Inc. is the latest foreign company to offend China's geopolitical sensibilities--and the latest to apologize swiftly for the slight.

The San Francisco-based apparel company came under fire on Chinese social media for selling T-shirts depicting a map of China, but omitting Taiwan, disputed islands in the South China Sea and parts of the semiautonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.

"We were informed the design of a Chinese map on a Gap T-shirt sold in some overseas markets was incorrect," Gap said Tuesday in a statement posted to an official Chinese social media account. "The product has been withdrawn from the Chinese market and completely destroyed," it said.

Gap said it respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that it strictly abides by Chinese laws and regulations. The company didn't immediately reply to a separate request for comment.

Gap's statement follows similar apologies by other foreign brands including Mercedes-Benz, the Zara apparel chain and hotel giant Marriott International Inc. for online communications and websites that rubbed China the wrong way on sensitive topics involving Tibet and Taiwan.

Last month, China's aviation authority warned international carriers to amend their websites to reflect China's sovereignty claims over Taiwan, and to reflect accurately the status of Hong Kong and Macau as Chinese territories, or face severe disruptions to their operations in the world's second-busiest aviation market.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders called the threat "Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies."

Though Taiwan has governed itself since 1949, Beijing regards the island as an integral part of China. Tibet has been under China's control for decades, though some Tibetans advocate its independence.

For foreign companies, the risk of offending China could mean exclusion from the world's largest consumer market. Gap opened its first store in mainland China in 2010 and now has 27 stores there, according to its website. Last year, the company opened its largest China store in Shanghai.

The retailer doesn't break out China figures but its Gap stores in Asia booked revenue of $1.12 billion, or 7% of net sales, in the fiscal year ending Feb. 3. In Asia, it has more than 310 stores across Japan, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 15, 2018 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)

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