*State-owned Air China said Thursday that it had removed copies of its inflight magazine containing an article that was labeled racist for suggesting visitors take precautions in London neighborhoods with large ethnic-minority populations.
“London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people,” the article in the September issue of “Wings of China” stated. It also advised tourists not to go out alone at night, and for women not to travel alone.
Air China told The Associated Press that “inappropriate” language was used and that the article didn’t represent the airline’s views.
“After discovering this problem, Air China immediately removed this magazine from all flights and demanded that the publishers of ‘Wings of China’ seriously learn from this lesson, strengthen their content review and avoid making similar mistakes,” the airline said.
It also forwarded an email from the magazine’s publisher China Aviation Media Co. Ltd. apologizing to Air China and saying the fault lay with an “editing mistake.”
“It has brought about misunderstanding from some media outlets and readers and also a huge negative impact on your company’s business operations and image. We deeply apologize for that,” its statement read.
It’s not the first time Chinese businesses have been criticized for being tone-deaf over issues of race and ethnicity.
As previously reported, a Chinese laundry detergent maker apologized “for the harm caused to the African people” over its TV advertisement that showed a black man being stuffed into a washing machine and coming out a fair-skinned Asian man.
Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd. Co. said it strongly condemned racial discrimination but blamed foreign media for playing up the controversy.
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