Chinese Government Bewails NBC Showing Map of the Country Without Taiwan: ‘Hurt’ the ‘Emotions of the Chinese People’
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The Chinese government lashed out on Friday at NBC News for showing a map during its broadcast of the Olympics that excluded Taiwan and the South China Sea — effectively ignoring the government’s claim that it holds dominion over both territories.
“The map is an expression of the national territory, symbolizing national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese consulate in New York said in a statement. “We urge NBC to recognize the serious nature of this problem and take measures to correct the error. Attempts to use the Olympic Games to play political ‘tricks’ and self-promotion to achieve ulterior motives will never succeed.”
Modern Taiwan was established by the former Chinese government when the Communist Party seized control of China’s mainland in 1949. International courts and countries included Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam have disputed China’s claim that it holds jurisdiction over the South China Sea.
The second happened moments later when NBC commentator Savannah Guthrie talked about how China is under “international scrutiny from human right organizations” and Western governments for HK, Uighur, and minority treatment as the Chinese team walked out. pic.twitter.com/iwrDT7zpyM
— Eric Fish (@ericfish85) July 24, 2021
China’s Global Times — an English-language newspaper backed by the country’s regime — piled on Friday evening, writing on Twitter that the consulate’s statement was a result of “NBC’s wrong behavior of using an incomplete map” and emphasizing that it had “urged NBC to correct [the] mistake.”
The map aired as the Chinese Olympic team walk in procession at the event’s opening ceremony. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie added insult to injury in the moments after the graphic aired, noting China was under “international scrutiny from human rights organizations” for issues that included its treatment of Uighurs, an ethnic minority.
