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Beijing (AFP) - The publisher of Chinese national carrier Air China's in-flight magazine apologised Thursday for allegedly "racist" travel advice offered to passengers visiting London, as mainland social media users rushed to defend the controversial tips.
The latest issue of "Wings of China" ran an article detailing safety tips for travellers based on the race and nationality of local residents.
"London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people," the article said in English translation below a Chinese text, according to a photograph published by CNBC.
"We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when travelling," it added.
The Chinese version was worded slightly differently, stating that such neighbourhoods were "comparatively more chaotic" -- an adjective often used to describe dangerous areas.
The English translation prompted London MP Virendra Sharma, who emigrated from India to Britain in the 1960s, to complain to the Chinese government.
"I am shocked and appalled that even today some people would see it as acceptable to write such blatantly untrue and racist statements," he said in an online statement.
"I have raised this issue with the Chinese ambassador, and requested that he ensures an apology is swiftly forthcoming from Air China, and the magazine is removed from circulation immediately," Sharma said.
In a Chinese-language statement Thursday, the publisher attributed the "inappropriate descriptions" to editorial errors, stating that they were at odds with the "original intention to actively promote the beautiful scenery of London".
https://www.yahoo.com/news/british-mp-hits-racist-air-china-london-tips-011816101.html
A number of other news sources are carrying the story, with varying degrees of indignation.
CNBC has coverage including an image of the offending text.
Additional Coverage:
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/08/air-chinas-magazine-says-media-readers-misinterpreted-london-travel-advice.html
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/07/air-chinas-safety-tips-for-london-visitors-may-raise-eyebrows.html
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday September 18 2016, @05:42AM
Its not uncommon for there to be some dangerous areas in any large city, where you could wake up dead for just walking there alone.
Pointing this out to naive travelers seems like a public service to me. I imagine there are places like that in large Chinese as well.
I really don't see anything to apologize for, unless one believed the world is better off by getting a few tourists killed every year in the name of politically correctness.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 18 2016, @05:51AM
I really don't see anything to apologize for, unless one believed the world is better off by getting a few tourists killed every year in the name of politically correctness.
It is very easy to hold such a belief when someone else is sacrificed for the believer's brief political advantage:
The English translation prompted London MP Virendra Sharma, who emigrated from India to Britain in the 1960s, to complain to the Chinese government.
(Score: 3, Informative) by linuxrocks123 on Sunday September 18 2016, @06:15AM
you could wake up dead for just walking there alone.
I don't think you'll be waking up if you're dead.
I imagine there are places like that in large Chinese as well.
My girlfriend is Chinese, and I've been to China several times. You're incorrect: violent crime in China is very low, and it's not like the US where there are unsafe neighborhoods: violent crime is low basically everywhere. The exceptions are areas like Tibet and Xinjiang where there are ethnic animosities between the Han Chinese and Tibetans and Uyghurs.
That China is so safe has led my girlfriend to doing stupid things in the US on occasion. The worst was when she got dropped off at the wrong hotel in Chicago late at night and decided to walk to the correct one instead of calling another cab. She didn't realize you can't just walk around cities like Chicago at night in the US, because, in China, you can walk around the cities at night. Fortunately, nothing happened to her, and she realized during her walk that what she was doing was dangerous. The way she realized this was by noticing that there was no one except her walking around the city ... well, no one except her and some really dangerous-looking people.
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Sunday September 18 2016, @02:59PM
"you could wake up dead for just walking there alone.
I don't think you'll be waking up if you're dead."
well, zombies, so there's that...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 18 2016, @03:32PM
I imagine there are places like that in large Chinese as well.
Somebody else already mentioned this but I think it's worth emphasizing. There really aren't. This isn't just China either but the majority of Asia. What to make of that opens up the door to too much speculation and bias confirmation, but the fact should be recognized regardless of our inability to assign causality.