Dior apologises to China over map controversy

French luxury house Christian Dior has apologised to China for misrepresenting its territory on a map.

Dior was criticised on Chinese social media site Weibo for reportedly using a map of China that excluded Taiwan at a company presentation.

The company publicly apologised for the “mistake in representation” made by one of its employees, and said it abides by the one-China principle. In a statement Dior said: “The company firstly deeply apologises for the incident on 16 October 2019 where a member of the Dior HR team was giving a presentation when (the employee) made a mistake in representation and gave an incorrect explanation.” “Dior has always respected and upheld the principle of one China, strictly upholding China’s rights and complete sovereignty, treasuring the feelings of Chinese citizens,” it added.

Dior is not the first brand to apologise for causing controversy in China. Other luxury brands, including Versace, Givenchy and Coach have recently been caught up in similar controversies.

According to the South China Morning Post, the “Dior Statement” is now the second most popular search term on the Chinese social media platform.

Dior said the error did not represent the company’s position and was caused by the “personal misconduct of an employee.”