by Donald Wood
Last updated: 1:26 PM ET, Thu January 11, 2018
Marriott International's Chinese website is officially shut down.
According to Reuters.com, Shanghai Cyberspace Administration closed the site for a week after the hotel chain listed Chinese-claimed regions such as Tibet and Taiwan as separate countries in a questionnaire. Officials also shut down Marriott's mobile phone application, which would further disrupt the ability of travelers to book hotel stays in China.
The Chinese government issued the order to shut down the websites after Marriott released a Mandarin-language questionnaire that listed Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as separate countries. China claims sovereignty over all four territories.
As a result, Marriott officials issued an apology for disrespecting Chinese sovereignty.
"Marriott International respects Chinese sovereignty and its territorial integrity...We sincerely apologize for any actions that led to misunderstanding on the aforementioned stance," the hotel chain said on Chinese social media.
Government officials in Shanghai asked Marriott to "take down all relevant content, conduct a thorough check on all content posted on its website and online application to prevent anything similar and address the public's concern in a timely fashion to eliminate a negative impact," according to Reuters.
The Huangpu district market supervision bureau is also launching an investigation into Marriott due to suspected violations of China's cybersecurity law and advertisement law.
Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson also released a statement:
"Marriott International respects and supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. Unfortunately, twice this week, we had incidents that suggested the opposite: First, by incorrectly labeling certain regions within China, including Tibet, as countries in a drop-down menu on a survey we sent out to our loyalty members and second, in the careless 'like' by an associate of a tweet that incorrectly suggested our support of this position.
"Nothing could be further from the truth. We don't support anyone who subverts the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and we do not intend in any way to encourage or incite any such people or groups. We recognize the severity of the situation and sincerely apologize."
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