Ikea under fire for listing Taiwan as a country on its packaging
Swedish furniture giant accused of violating ‘one China’ principle
Ikea has become the latest foreign company to fall foul of Beijing’s demand that Taiwan be referred to as part of China, with the Swedish furniture giant coming under fire from state media and mainland internet users over its packaging.
On Tuesday, a report in state-run nationalist tabloid Global Times said Ikea had violated the “one China” principle by treating Taiwan and semi-autonomous Hong Kong as countries on its packaging.
“Ikea uses ‘Spain-Mainland’ and ‘Spain-Balearics and Canary Islands’ [on its materials],” the report said, adding that the retailer should take the same approach to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Mainland internet users added to pressure on the company, posting images of product packaging from the popular furniture chain on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, that gave Taiwan the same status as countries such as India, South Korea and the Philippines.
“[Ikea] earns money in China yet it is trying to separate the country?” one person wrote on Weibo.
Another said: “Ikea has always separated Taiwan and Hong Kong from China in its product tags and on its website … Ikea must correct this.”
