Luxury brand Bulgari has come under fire for listing Taiwan separately from China on its official website. In a statement, the subsidiary of French luxury goods group LVMH apologized and confirmed its “One China” stance, reports WWD.
The uproar comes a day after Bulgari announced a digital collaboration with Chinese video game Honor of Kings. Bulgari designed digital jewelry for a character in the game. Online, Chinese gamers proposed a boycott of the cooperation. Others called on Bulgari brand ambassadors, such as actresses Shu Qi, Liu Yifei or model Liu Wen, to end their collaboration with the brand.
“Bulgari, as always, respects China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with an unwavering commitment,” the brand said .When we have these technical problems today [Dienstag] discovered, corrections were made immediately. We sincerely apologize for the mistakes.”
Bulgari also apologized on the Chinese platform Weibo. People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, responded with a post on Weibo calling the apology disingenuous and urging Bulgari to issue a global apology. The post received more than 100,000 likes and became trending on Weibo within an hour with more than 140 million views.
This translated and edited post previously appeared on FashionUnited.nl.