Joyce defends Qantas decision on Taiwan listing
SYDNEY: Qantas chief Alan Joyce yesterday defended the carrier’s move to list Taiwan as part of China on its websites after Australia’s foreign minister said private firms must be able to conduct business “free from political pressure”.
The Chinese Civil Aviation Administration sent a notice to 36 foreign airlines in April, asking them to comply with Beijing’s standards of referring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau as Chinese territories.
Late last month, several foreign airlines were still found listing Taiwan as a country, including Qantas.
Joyce said at an annual meeting of global airlines, here, that “our intention is to meet the requirements“, but there were some technical delays.
He defended the Australian carrier’s decision to comply with Beijing’s demands, stressing that “it’s not airlines that define what countries are, it’s governments”.
“And at the end of the day, the Australians, like a lot of countries, have a ‘One China’ policy,” Joyce added. “So we’re not doing anything different than (what) the Australian government is doing in that case and I think that’s the case for a lot of airlines.”
Qantas International chief Alison Webster said the carrier had been given an extension to make the changes.
“We have some complexity to work through,” she said.
Qantas’ decision comes amid souring Australia-China relations.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop yesterday acknowledged that the website was a matter for Qantas, but said: “Private companies should be free to conduct their usual business operations free from political pressure of governments.”
Asked about Bishop’s remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said: “There is only one China in the world. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are all part of China.”