China Fines 7-Eleven Convenience Store Chain Over $7,800 For Calling Taiwan A Country

7-Eleven was fined $7,842 as Beijing municipal government said it committed a 'wrongful act of assigning Taiwan province as an independent country'.

Representational image of a 7-Eleven store | Photo: Getty

New Delhi: China has slapped a fine on and issued a warning to 7-Eleven after its website listed Taiwan as a country and also displayed maps with what it said “erroneous borders” for Xinjiang and Tibet, The Guardian reported.

The company was fined 50,000 yuan ($7,842) in December as the Beijing municipal government said it committed a “wrongful act of assigning Taiwan province as an independent country”, according to the report.

It also said the 7-Eleven website failed to use the Chinese names for certain “disputed” islands in the South China Sea. These included the Japanese-administered Senkakus islands, which China calls Diaoyu islands.

The matter was first reported on Friday by Asia Nikkei, the report said. 

The Beijing outlets of the convenience store chain are owned by Seven-Eleven Japan, a subsidiary of Japanese firm 7 & i Holdings.

Acknowledging the complaint, Seven & i Holdings said it would “do our best to prevent a recurrence”, Nikkei Asia reported.

While Taiwan claims it’s a sovereign nation, Beijing views the democratically governed island as a Chinese province and aggressively contests any reference that supports Taipei’s position. 

In May 2021, Fast & Furious 9 star John Cena had to tender an apology in Mandarin after he referred to Taiwan as a country while promoting his film.

Beijing claims there is only “one China”, of which Taiwan is a part, but Taipei says China does not have any right over it.