Taiwan hotel cuts ties with Marriott after naming row

The Chinese government has asked airlines, hotel groups and other companies to add "China" behind "Taiwan" on their websites in recent months, but a Taiwanese hotel has axed Marriott's contract to protest against such amendments, according to a news report.Channel NewsAsia reported that the Four Points by Sheraton in Zhonghe, a district of New Taipei City, put an advertisement in local newspaper the Liberty Times, announcing that it will terminate its franchise agreement with parent group Marriott International, in protest over the US group caving in to Beijing pressure to list the island as part of China. Marriott International listed the hotel as Taiwan, China on the simplified Chinese version of a booking website for members.However, the traditional version of the website still listed Taiwan only.Marriott was strongly criticised by Chinese authorities in January for listing Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong as separate countries. All are regions which Beijing claims under its authority.A spokeswoman of the hotel said its name will be changed and no longer takes reservations from Marriott's booking system. She admitted that it would cause some problems but corporates, Taiwanese people and other booking websites are its focus.Four Points by Sheraton is a brand of business hotels under the Starwood brand, which was bought by Marriott in 2016.