Chinese authorities have imposed a fine of over $7,000 and warned 7-Eleven to stop listing Taiwan as a country and displaying maps and borders that China believes are false. It was reported by The South China Morning Post that the government fined the company for ‘errors’ including ‘wrongfully assigning Taiwan as an independent country’.
In addition, the company did not correctly mark the borders of islands in the South China Sea, according to the government. The Chinese government claims democratically controlled Taiwan as its own and has increased military and diplomatic pressure in recent years to bolster this claim. This isn’t the first time that 7-Eleven stores have been under scrutiny by the Chinese government. The punishment was announced in December, but Asia Nikkei only reported it recently. Nikkei Asia reports that Seven & I holdings acknowledged the complaint and promised to prevent a repeat of the incident.
In the meantime, a Beijing official has warned that if Taiwan advances towards formal independence, China will respond with severe measures. Speaking at a media conference, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, said China is determined to reunite Taiwan peacefully. China, however, has a red line regarding independence that, if crossed, is liable to respond. Ma warned that if separatist forces seeking independence in Taiwan provoke, exert force, or even break through any red lines, we will be forced to take drastic measures.
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