Shanghai Cyberspace Administration has ordered on Thursday, January 11 the American hotel chain Marriott website for shut down. They also suspended the Chinese app of the hotel group for one week in penance.
This was after Marriott sent survey earlier this week to its rewards club members. The global survey listed Taiwan, Tiber, Macau and Hong Kong as separate countries.
The Shanghai office of China's Cyberspace Administration announced the temporary shutdown of the Chinese website and the Chinese app of Marriott for a week as the hotel group undergoes investigation for violating Chinese advertising and cybersecurity law.
"Marriott had seriously violated Chinese regulations and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people," the state internet watchdog said.
Meanwhile, China's tourism ministry has supported the investigation and said that other companies in the industry should take the lesson from this incident.
"Marriott International respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China," the company tweeted. "We don't support separatist groups that subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We sincerely apologize for any actions that may have suggested otherwise."
Marriott reportedly promised to cooperate with the authorities for the investigation. They also corrected the wording on the said online survey and launched an investigation for the "careless" act.
