Marriott sacks employee who ‘liked’ Twitter post from Tibet independence group
Row over mislabelling of Chinese territories rumbles on as news reports accuse 24 airlines of making similar mistakes
US hotel giant Marriott said it is in the process of sacking an employee for “wrongfully liking” a Twitter post by a group that supports independence for Tibet in its latest effort to calm a storm of criticism sparked by a company survey that referred to the Chinese region, and self-ruled Taiwan, as countries, Chinese state media reported.
Craig Smith, president and managing director of Asia-Pacific for Marriott International, made the announcement at a meeting with the China National Tourism Administration on Friday, Xinhua reported.
Wang Xiaofeng, deputy director of the administration, said listing Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as countries was an infringement of China’s territorial integrity and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
He said the hotel group should learn from the experience and do all it can to minimise any negative impact.
Smith explained that the email questionnaire that triggered the controversy had been produced by an outsourcing company, but apologised for Marriott’s failure to notice the error. He added that the hotel group had suspended its dealings with the company.
