China Flag Controversy: Paris Hotel Faces Backlash from Chinese Cyber-nationalists

The Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris has found itself at the centre of a controversy for not displaying the national flag of the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Screenshot from Douyin, 张教官的有趣人生

_________

The incident began when a Chinese influencer, known for his Douyin channel "Instructor Zhang's Interesting Life" (张教官的有趣人生), posted a video on social media accusing the hotel of not displaying the PRC flag among the flags of the countries participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Douyin is a popular short-video platform in the PRC, launched in September 2016 by ByteDance. Its international counterpart is TikTok.

Zhang discovered that the lobby of the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris was adorned with flags of various countries, except for the PRC’s five-star red flag. Zhang and his crew uploaded a video in which they pleaded with hotel staff to hang the flag, even offering to give them one themselves. But the front desk refused. They claimed that they needed the permission of the manager—who could not be reached on a weekend.

"They haven't hung China's national flag here," Zhang said while walking in the hotel lobby. He went to the reception and complained about the fact that there were several national flags, but not the PRC's.

"China in the Olympics will be number 1 in the gold medal count," he continued. "But there is no Chinese flag."

"That's a shame, I know, that's a shame," the receptionist replied.

"Is this a Chinese hotel?" Zhang asked.

"It's Taiwanese," the receptionist answered.

"Taiwan? A Taiwanese hotel? Is Taiwan not China?" (台湾不是中国吗?) Zhang asked.

Zhang and his team cancelled their booking and left, accusing the hotel of discriminating against China. Their video quickly went viral and sparked a strong reaction on PRC social media, leading numerous Chinese netizens to call for a boycott of the hotel and demand an apology.

The Evergreen Laurel Hotel is owned by the Taiwanese conglomerate Evergreen Group, which also operates EVA Air. The PRC claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to use force to annex it.

Under pressure from PRC netizens, the Evergreen Group issued an apology on August 15, followed by another statement on August 24 in which the company affirmed its support for the "1992 Consensus" and its opposition to Taiwanese independence.

The “1992 Consensus” refers to an agreement between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Taiwan's then-ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) on the principle of “one China”.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the incident, accusing the PRC government of using economic means for political manipulation, thereby disrupting international order and normal business practices.

The Ministry pointed out that the PRC government has long used boycotts, sanctions, and tax investigations to force businesses to comply with its political objectives. Additionally, the PRC has been known to incite so-called Chinese cyber-nationalists, aka “little pinks”, to exert pressure on businesses.

PRC state media Global Times reported on the controversy, siding with the angry cyber-nationalists.

“Floods of mainland netizens criticized the hotel, questioning whether it is supporting ‘Taiwan independence’,” the outlet reported. “Meanwhile, the Asia section of the hotel's official website listed 'Taiwan' and 'China' side by side, the Beijing Daily reported on Thursday. As of Friday, the hotel removed the option to list Taiwan alongside China. Currently, many booking platforms have removed this hotel from their search results.”

In the heavily censored PRC internet, news and posts about the incident would not have been allowed to spread if the regime had deemed it harmful to its own interests. For instance, the CCP does not permit any online debate on the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The PRC government has long weaponised the economy to further its political agenda. In the 1990s, Beijing began to persecute Hong Kong business tycoon Jimmy Lai, an outspoken critic of the CCP.

In 1994, Jimmy Lai’s house was bombed. His retail company Giordano became the target of CCP harassment, with its outlet in Beijing being shut down due to alleged licensing issues. Other outlets in mainland China followed. Under pressure, Lai stepped down from Giordano’s board in August 1994.

On August 10, 2020, Jimmy Lai was arrested alongside prominent pro-democracy activists. He served a 20-month jail term for his participation in various protests and unauthorised assemblies.

On June 17, 2021, the recently instituted National Security branch of the Hong Kong police raided the headquarters of Jimmy Lai’s media company Next Digital, detaining 5 executives on charges of violating the National Security Law. On June 23, the paper was forced to announce its shutdown after the Hong Kong government froze its assets.

On December 10, 2022, Lai received a jail sentence of five years and nine months for fraud. He faces up to life in prison at his upcoming trial on national security charges.

In August 2019, several luxury fashion brands faced backlash in the PRC over T-shirt designs that were seen as insulting the country's sovereignty. Versace, Givenchy, and Coach all issued apologies after their T-shirts listed Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan as separate countries from China.

Versace said in a statement: “we love China deeply, and resolutely respect China’s territory and national sovereignty.” Chinese actress Yang Mi announced in a Weibo post that she had terminated her contract as a Versace spokesperson, stating that China’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty are sacred.”

In December 2021, Intel issued an apology after facing backlash over its advisory to suppliers urging them to avoid sourcing products or labour from the PRC province of Xinjiang.

In an annual letter to its suppliers, Intel stated it was required to ensure its supply chain remained free from labour sourced or goods originating from Xinjiang, due to restrictions imposed by various governments. This sparked controversy in the PRC, leading to calls for a boycott and criticism from state-run media.

In response, Intel issued an apology on its official WeChat account, clarifying that its letter was not a statement of position but an effort to comply with US law.

In 2023, fashion brand Bulgari issued an apology to the PRC after listing Taiwan as a country on its website. These are just a few of numerous examples of companies and individuals bullied into toeing the official government line, going so far as to appease Beijing amid ongoing human rights abuses and threats of territorial expansion.

•••

Support me with a donation at: https://ko-fi.com/aristeon89

Or take a look at some of my books:

Thanks for your support!

Sources:

https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E9%8C%AF%E8%AA%A4-%E7%B6%B2%E5%82%B3%E5%BD%B1%E7%89%87-%E9%95%B7%E6%A6%AE%E6%B5%B7%E9%81%8B%E9%AB%98%E6%8E%9B%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E4%BA%94%E6%98%9F%E6%97%97-072426545.html

https://udn.com/news/story/6656/8183598

https://money.udn.com/money/story/7307/8183536

https://www.evergreen-hotels.com/chain2/about_group/index.jsp?lang=en&utm_source=perplexity

https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=1515259

https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E9%95%B7%E6%A6%AE%E6%A1%82%E5%86%A0%E8%A2%AB%E6%8A%B5%E5%88%B6%E6%98%AF%E5%A5%BD%E4%BA%8B-%E7%9F%A2%E6%9D%BF%E6%98%8E%E5%A4%AB-%E6%97%A5%E9%A3%AF%E5%BA%97-%E6%B2%92%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E4%BA%BA%E4%BD%8F-%E5%89%B5%E6%A5%AD%E7%B8%BE%E6%96%B0%E9%AB%98-210000941.html

https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E9%95%B7%E6%A6%AE%E6%B2%92%E6%8E%9B%E4%BA%94%E6%98%9F%E6%97%97%E8%A2%AB%E9%80%BC%E9%81%93%E6%AD%89-%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%A4%E9%83%A8-%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%B1%E4%BB%A5%E5%95%86%E9%80%BC%E6%94%BF-133727748.html