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FILE – Shoppers walk past the Italian jewelry and luxury goods store, Bulgari in Beverly Hills, Calif, Thursday April 2, 2015. Italian luxury brand Bulgari is the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
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A man smokes as he walks by the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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A woman walks by the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and both the government and Chinese Internet users have a history of scolding or boycotting international brands that have referred to Taiwan as a separate country. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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Women walk past the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and both the government and Chinese Internet users have a history of scolding or boycotting international brands that have referred to Taiwan as a separate country. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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FILE – Shoppers walk past the Italian jewelry and luxury goods store, Bulgari in Beverly Hills, Calif, Thursday April 2, 2015. Italian luxury brand Bulgari is the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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FILE – Shoppers walk past the Italian jewelry and luxury goods store, Bulgari in Beverly Hills, Calif, Thursday April 2, 2015. Italian luxury brand Bulgari is the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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A man smokes as he walks by the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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A man smokes as he walks by the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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A woman walks by the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and both the government and Chinese Internet users have a history of scolding or boycotting international brands that have referred to Taiwan as a separate country. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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A woman walks by the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and both the government and Chinese Internet users have a history of scolding or boycotting international brands that have referred to Taiwan as a separate country. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Women walk past the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and both the government and Chinese Internet users have a history of scolding or boycotting international brands that have referred to Taiwan as a separate country. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Women walk past the Bulgari store at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing, Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Italian luxury brand Bulgari became the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and both the government and Chinese Internet users have a history of scolding or boycotting international brands that have referred to Taiwan as a separate country. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Bulgari has become the latest international brand to apologize to China after listing Taiwan as a country on its website.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, and both the government and Chinese internet users have a history of scolding or boycotting international brands that have referred to Taiwan as a separate country. Late Tuesday, Bulgari posted an apology on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, saying it “steadfastly and always” respected China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Our brand has immediately corrected the mistakenly marked store addresses and map indications on the overseas official website, which resulted from management negligence,” the Italian luxury brand said in a statement. “We deeply apologize for the mistake.”
Paraguay’s president-elect, Santiago Pena, has committed to maintaining diplomatic ties with Taiwan, going against a trend of Taipei’s diplomatic allies switching their allegiance to China.
China has sent navy ships and a large group of warplanes, including fighter jets and bombers, toward Taiwan over the past two days.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang is ill and the country’s senior diplomat will take his place at a two-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Paraguay’s president-elect, Santiago Pena, has arrived in Taipei for a visit meant to reinforce relations between Taiwan and one of its few remaining diplomatic allies.
Brands also have come under fire for offending Beijing’s other geopolitical sensibilities, including its territorial claims in the South China Sea and the status of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.
The Bulgari incident was widely discussed on Chinese social media, with some users demanding that the brand distribute its apology on its international social media accounts as well.
“Did you post it on the overseas Internet?” one comment with more than 40,000 likes read. “Don’t be a two-faced person who only wants Chinese people to see (the apology).”
A Weibo topic asking users if they accepted Bulgari’s apology had been viewed more than 12 million times by Wednesday afternoon.
Several Chinese state-run publications joined in the demand that Bulgari apologize on its international platforms as well.
“Bulgari made a mistake on its overseas official website but only issued an apology on its mainland China account,” read a commentary by China Daily. “Such an apology may hardly convince Chinese consumers.”
Brands including Valentino, Calvin Klein, Coach, Zara and Delta Airlines have apologized in recent years for listing Taiwan as a country or region separate from China on their websites.
Mercedes-Benz in 2018 apologized for quoting the Dalai Lama on Instagramwhile Gap the same year apologized for selling a T-shirt with a map of China that omitted Taiwan and the South China Sea.
