The luxury firm bulgari apologized for allegedly listing Taiwan as an independent country from China on a foreign website, prompting an angry response on Chinese social media.
The company and Chinese celebrities serving as its ambassadors trended on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo after users spotted the country drop-down menu on Bulgari’s website.
The controversy led the state media Global Times to post on social media that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory and cannot be listed as a country”.
bulgariowned by luxury conglomerate LVMH, apologized on its official Weibo account, stating that the error was due to management failure and that “respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China”.
It is not the first foreign brand to face the ire of Chinese social media users aggrieved by a perceived territorial slight. In 2019, luxury brands such as Versace, Givenchy and Coach were heavily criticized in China when it emerged that websites and merchandise had listed Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao as countries.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
