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    Half Tones

    3 Luxury Brands Apologize for Affronts to China’s Territorial Sovereignty

    Aug 12, 2019

    Western luxury brands Versace, Coach, and Givenchy are the latest international companies to upset China with geographical gaffes.

    In a statement Monday, the leatherware and clothing brand Coach said it had recalled T-shirts last May that had included Hong Kong and Taiwan among a group of countries after photos of the apparel item in question recently surfaced online. The American company also said it was correcting its website for labeling oversights: By Monday afternoon, its international sites read “Chinese mainland,” “Hong Kong Macau SAR,” and “Taiwan, China.”

    France’s Givenchy also apologized Monday for its “negligence and mistake” over a similar blunder. The company said that it “respects China’s sovereignty and supports the ‘one China’ policy.”

    The American and French brands’ apologies come a day after Italian fashion house Versace expressed regret for its “negligence” after one of its T-shirts listing Hong Kong and Macao as countries prompted a social media backlash. Chinese actress Yang Mi, a brand ambassador for Versace, said she was “deeply offended” and had terminated her contract with the luxury fashion label, according to her agency.

    Versace, Coach, and Givenchy have now joined a growing list of foreign companies — including Zara and H&M — that have come under fire for misrepresenting China’s territorial boundaries in recent years. And last week, authorities said 29 Fortune 500 companies had replaced “problematic” maps of China that contained similar territorial oversights. (Images: Weibo)