A Starwood-branded hotel in Taiwan will terminate its contract with Marriott International after Beijing's calls to list the island as part of China, Agence France Presse cited the hotel’s owner as saying.
Marriott’s decision in January to list Taiwan as a separate country claimed by China was condemned by Beijing, who shut down Marriott’s local website for a week forcing the hotel chain to say they were sorry and change the listing to "Taiwan, China."
"We are sternly protesting against Marriott International unilaterally listing our hotel as 'Taiwan, China,'" the advert said, adding that Four Points by
Sheraton, a brand of business hotels under the Starwood brand, would "dissolve" its contract.
A hotel spokeswoman told AFP that its name will now be changed and it will no longer take reservations from Marriott's booking system.
"Of course it will cause some impact, but our main customers are corporates, and Taiwanese people, and other booking websites," she added.
Four Points by Sheraton is a brand of business hotels under the Starwood brand, which was bought by Marriott in 2016.
China condemns any move that could be interpreted as de facto diplomatic recognition of Taiwan as an independent state and has punished a number of airlines, hotels and other companies for listing Taiwan as a separate country on their websites.
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Taiwan, situated on a group of islands southwest of mainland China, broke away in 1949.
While business and unofficial contacts between the two sides resumed in the late 1980s, China refuses diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes Taiwan as a state.
