Hong Kong and Macau are former European territories that are now managed as special administration regions of China. Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province. China annexed Tibet in 1950, although Beijing has claimed the Himalayan region has been an indivisible part of China throughout history.
The current furor reflects Beijing’s increasing assertiveness internationally and the sensitivity of territorial rights for the mainland Chinese public.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Friday afternoon that Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Tibet are all “parts of China.”
“This is the objective fact as well as the consensus of the international community,” said the ministry’s spokesman, Lu Kang, at a scheduled press conference.
Foreign companies operating in China “should respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, abide by China’s laws and respect Chinese people’s national feelings,” Lu said.
“This is the minimum requirement for any enterprise to invest, operate and conduct cooperation in another country,” he added.
As to what would happen to a Chinese company listing Alaska or Hawaii as independent countries, the China Daily theorized:
“It would definitely be considered as having infringed on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States. Of course, none of them would be stupid enough to make such a mistake as they well know that they should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a country when doing business there.”
—Reuters contributed to this report.
