Versace apologises after T-shirt sparks outrage in China for identifying autonomous territories of Hong Kong and Macau as countries
- Apologised for ‘distress’ caused by saying Hong Kong and Macau aren’t China
- They are largely autonomous and governed independently to Beijing
- China is now policing the way that foreign companies represent the regions
- Versace lost their China brand ambassador Yang Mi after social media uproar
- She said that China’s territorial claims to the areas are ‘sacred and inviolable’
Italian high fashion giant Versace apologised on Sunday after one of their T-shirts caused an uproar on Chinese social media for identifying Hong Kong and Macau as countries.
The brand announced through its Twitter-like Weibo account that it had made a mistake and as of July 24 had stopped selling and destroyed the T-shirts.
Versace is the latest company to draw criticism from China which has increased its policing on how foreign firms describe Hong Kong and Macau.
Italian fashion house Versace has apologised for an ‘inaccuracy’ which caused uproar on social media in China. A t-shirt produced by the brand recognised Hong Kong and Macau as their own sovereign entities, failing to acknowledge China’s territorial claim
Both Hong Kong and Macau were once European colonies which were leased from China. The United Kingdom’s leasehold over Hong Kong ended in 1997 and it was returned. Portugal’s rental agreement for Macau ceased in 1999.
Though they are regions of China, both have their own administrative powers and are run largely independent from Beijing.
‘Versace reiterates that we love China deeply, and resolutely respect China’s territory and national sovereignty,’ Versace said in a statement.
The T-shirt, images of which were posted on Chinese social media, featured a list of ‘city-country’ pairs, including ‘New York-USA’ and ‘Beijing-China.’
It also described Hong Kong and Macau as ‘Hong Kong-Hong Kong’ and ‘Macau-Macau.’
Donatella Versace, sister of the fashion house’s late founder Gianni, issued a similar statement on her official Instagram account.
‘Never have I wanted to disrespect China’s National Sovereignty and this is why I wanted to personally apologize for such inaccuracy and for any distress that it might have caused,’ she said.
Yang Mi, actress and Versace’s recently acquired ambassador in China, announced through her studio that she was ending her contract with the fashion house over the issue. The studio stressed that China’s territorial integrity was never to be dishonoured and that it was ‘sacred’
The studio of Versace’s China brand ambassador Yang Mi, one of the country’s most well-known actresses, also said on its Weibo account that she was ending her contract with Versace over the issue.
‘China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty are sacred and inviolable at all times,’ Jiaxing Media said in the statement.
The ending of Yang’s relationship with Versace was one of the most viewed topics on Weibo on Sunday, attracting over 640 million views.
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