
Airline fails after China labels Palau an ‘illegal destination’ - ilamont
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/07/18/airline-says-shut-china-labelled-palau-illegal-destination-taiwan-recognition/
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mc32
Illegal because they, Palau, dejure recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation. A
strong-arming tactic to get small (and not so small) countries to go along
with the farce.

Ultimately, China will win... what they achieve geographically is another
story. Taiwan is not going to revert voluntarily.

~~~
zer71856
Is this any different than the US hurting companies that do business with
Iran? Do you also consider the Iran sanctions a farce?

~~~
SuperNinKenDo
Yes. One could always complain about both, but yes there is a difference. The
US doesn't try to punish companies that come from countries that merely
acknowledge Iran as a sovereign nation. Nor does the US insist that anybody
who claims Iran is not part of America be banned from doing business in
America. I think there's certainly a difference.

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mrpopo
> “We have tried everything we can to advertise and promote Palau in China’s
> tourism market. We spent more than USD$1 million on promoting Palau
> annually,” the airline’s statement said.

A big marketing mistake IMO. This is not the first time China has shown their
teeth to impose the "One China Policy". Ignore them and hit on emerging
markets, like India.

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DomreiRoam
Isn't the same as what the USA did against Cuba or Iran or some countries
against Israel?

Boycotts are quite powerful tools to achieve your goal so it make sense that
country try this.

~~~
zer71856
Ore more recently ZTE and Iran.

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Overtonwindow
I wonder if the President has considered recognizing Taiwan. What would the
ramifications be? Call the Chinese bluff. It's the right thing to do, and if
the US will, I think others will follow.

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innagadadavida
This might be blessing in disguise for Palau - it will be devoid of Chinese
tourists and a quieter place for other tourists.

~~~
dogma1138
Not if no other airline would fly there.

Cases like these is why nations should preserve national airlines at all
costs.

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Leary
Delta airlines, which serviced between Japan and Palau also exited the market.
Looks like it's not profitable.

~~~
forapurpose
Do we know why Delta exited? Maybe China pressured them too.

~~~
Leary
[https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/delta-end-flights-
sa...](https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/delta-end-flights-saipan-
palau/)

~~~
forapurpose
Thanks for the link. Excerpted:

 _In a statement, Hiroko Okada from the corporate communications department of
Delta Air Lines attributed this decision to “unsustainable pressure,”
including lower demand, in the Micronesia market._

and

 _The shrinking Japanese market that travels to the Pacific and Micronesia was
prevalent and the service flights cuts were inevitably foreseen.

Concepcion said that MVA saw it with Delta’s pullout in Guam, United Airlines’
nearly 50-percent reduction in flights between Japan and Guam, and now with
Delta’s flight suspension for Saipan and Palau._

At least, there's plenty of support for Leary's claim.

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SuperNinKenDo
Sick of this shit quite frankly. Western nations need to grow some balls and
start to resist this narrative. I was extremely pleased when Trump
acknowledged Taiwanese congratulations. This was the right thing to do, and I
was appalled when many criticised him for this. China is one of the most
illiberal up and comers on the world stage.

~~~
powerapple
Taiwan (or Republic of China) had chance to be separated from China before
People's Republic of China took the China seat in UN. The government refused
to change to Taiwan because both the government and people consider ROC as the
China. Of course opinion and education changed especially young people's
opinion, but legally Taiwan is still Republic of China unless they change
their constitution. And their constitution claims whole China and Mongolia as
their land. China of course, legally required to see Palau as illegal in order
not to lose claim on Taiwan. At least it is not putting sanction to every
country and company does business with Taiwan. There is nothing wrong with it.
Similar to Cuba and Iran with US.

~~~
Freak_NL
> There is nothing wrong with it.

You are either mainland Chinese, cruel, or woefully uninformed (or all of the
former).

Taiwan is not some rogue state with dubious alliances — like Cuba could be
considered in the previous century — it is a democratic nation with a healthy
economy and all the trappings of a modern nation-state; except for the
official recognition which it can't get due to China's (the People's Republic
(PRC) that is) bullying on the world stage.

The PRC does what it does because it can get away with it. That's a basic
Realist attitude that works for them. The PRC won't likely release their claim
on Taiwan any time soon, because of its economic/military aspirations in the
South China Sea (cf. their dubious claims on the Paracel and Spratly Islands).
The rest of the world won't upset the balance because of China's economic
importance. It could if it wanted to, but that would require the US and the EU
to present a common front on the issue (not very likely right now).

