In February, German car company Daimler found itself having to deal with a reputational crisis in China. Its subsidiary Mercedes-Benz had used a quote from the Dalai Lama in a post on its main Instagram account.
“Look at the situation from all angles, and you will become more open,” said the post, promoting a white Mercedes. Beijing sees the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet as a dangerous separatist and the Instagram post prompted criticism on Chinese social media, even though the picture-sharing app is officially blocked in China. Daimler swiftly issued not one but two apologies, after the first was deemed “insincere” by The People’s Daily.
In April, the Civil Aviation Administration of China demanded that 36 foreign airlines change their websites to list Taiwan as a region of China rather than as a country, threatening that their operations could be disrupted if they did not comply.