Taiwan bakery chain disappears from major Chinese food apps amid Tsai visit row (updated)

Gourmet Master Co

16/08/2018 09:29

* Taiwan bakery chain embroiled in row over presidential
visit
    * Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visits U.S. branch at
weekend
    * Chinese social media users call for boycott
    * China considers self-ruled Taiwan its own territory

 (Updates with share reaction)
    By Brenda Goh and Yimou Lee
    SHANGHAI/TAIPEI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Chinese food delivery
platforms Meituan-Dianping and Ele.me have taken down listings
for Taiwan's 85 Degrees Celsius Bakery Cafe, checks on their
apps showed, amid boycott calls from social media users who said
the chain supported Taiwan independence. 
    The move by the Chinese companies comes after 85 Degrees,
which has 628 stores in mainland China, was hit by calls for a
boycott on Chinese social media after Taiwan President Tsai
Ing-wen was photographed on Sunday visiting one of its Los
Angeles stores during her visit to the United States.
    Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial issue and
Beijing, which considers it a wayward province, has in recent
months become increasingly critical of how companies refer to
the self-ruled, democratic island. 
    Checks on Tencent-backed  0700.HK  Meituan-Dianping and
Alibaba-owned  BABA.N  Ele.me's apps on Thursday showed that the
option for users to order food deliveries from 85 Degrees stores
was no longer available. 
    The Dianping app, which lists reviews and locations for
restaurants and shops, displayed the message "unable to find
appropriate merchant" when one tried to search for 85 Degrees'
stores. 
    Meituan-Dianping declined to comment while Ele.me and 85
Degrees did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It
was not clear when 85 Degrees' listing was taken down from the
apps but Chinese state media reported it on Thursday. 
    On Wednesday, 85 Degrees issued a statement on its mainland
website in response to criticism about Tsai's visit, saying that
it firmly supported the "one China policy" and encouraged the
peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait.
    Huang Chung-yen, a spokesman for Taiwan's Presidential
Office, said 85 Degrees was subject to "unwarranted pressure"
and forced to release a "humiliating" statement, adding that
Taiwan condemned such actions against freedom of speech.
    Shares in Gourmet Master Company Ltd  2723.TW , 85 Degrees'
parent company, dropped 7.5 percent to their lowest in more than
a year, compared with a 0.3 percent fall in the broader market
 .TWII .
    Long Mingbiao, a deputy minister at China's policy-making
Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters in Beijing that China
welcomed Taiwan companies to come to the mainland to invest and
develop. 
    "At the same time, we oppose and will not allow any Taiwan
company to earn money in the mainland and then go and support
Taiwan independence forces or activities," he said.
    He declined to elaborate.
    Companies from airlines, such as Air Canada  AC.TO , to
retailers, such as Gap  GPS.N  and Muji, have apologised for or
changed the way they refer to Taiwan in recent months after
complaints from the Chinese government.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1SM0VU urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1SV1A2 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1SM04M
    Many Chinese social media users said on Thursday they were
supportive of the removal of 85 Degrees from the food delivery
apps, but some lamented that customers were also penalised.
    "Politics is politics and business is business, but us
people are innocent, we should not wrap it all up in each
other," said one with the username "shengxiaomei".

 (Additional Reporting by Cate Cadell and Ben Blanchard in
BEIJING and Shanghai Newsroom
Editing by Robert Birsel)
 ((brenda.goh@thomsonreuters.com; +86 (0) 21 6104 1763; Reuters
Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))