After Versace, Givenchy and Coach, Swarovski is the latest luxury brand that caused outrage in China for its labelling of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Swarovski also lost the support of its brand ambassador, Chinese actress Jiang Shuying.
The Austrian jewellery company apologised on Tuesday for “hurting the feelings” of the Chinese people after calling Hong Kong a separate country on its site.
“We are extremely sorry for the Chinese people whose feelings have been hurt,” the jewellery firm says in a statement this week.
“Swarovski thanks the supervision of people from all walks of life and is willing to continue to build a harmonious society with the Chinese people.”
Brand ambassador Jiang Shuying’s agency said in a statement they sent a notice to Swarovski to terminate their contract as soon as possible.
We “uphold the one-China principle and believe that our national sovereignty and territory integrity cannot be violated”, the agency says.
Swarovski also faced anger online–despite promising to “try our best to correct mistakes in the shortest time”.
“I won’t buy it anymore. There’s no personal preference in front of national sovereignty,” one user wrote on the Weibo social media platform.
“These foreign brands always say they firmly uphold China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. If you really mean it, such a thing would never occur,” wrote another.
Versace, Coach and Givenchy all apologised this week for making perceived affronts to China’s national sovereignty with T-shirts listing Hong Kong and Taiwan as separate countries.
The row also cost them the support of their Chinese brand ambassadors as the companies scrambled to minimise any potential damage in the lucrative market.
Actress Yang Mi was Versace’s representative before deciding to stop collaborating with the fashion house.
Meanwhile model Liu Wen who was Coach’s ambassador said she is terminating work with the brand.
“I love my motherland, and resolutely defend China’s national sovereignty!” she wrote on her official Weibo account.
Jackson Yee, a hugely popular singer in boy band TFBoys, also pulled the plug on collaborating with Givenchy.
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