Versace apologises after ‘anti-China’ T-shirt sparks uproar

This was pretty ignorant.  Hong Kong and Macau have a status within China similar to the status of State govenments within the USA.  Both started out as independent but are no longer so

Versace has been forced to apologise after a T-shirt “disrespecting China’s national sovereignty” infuriated one of the luxury brand’s leading ambassadors.

Yang Mi, a Chinese actress and singer, announced she was quitting Versace, claiming that one of the brand’s T-shirts broke Beijing’s “One China” policy.

The T-shirt listed several cities alongside their respective countries. Hong Kong and Macau were also listed but as independent nations and not Chinese territories.

Both are classed as special administrative regions of China, which have semi-autonomous governments.

Yang posted a picture of the T-shirt to Chinese social media app Weibo, with an accompanying statement. “China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty are sacred and inviolable at all times,” the statement said, according to The China Daily.

“As a company of the People’s Republic of China and Yang Mi as a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, we are deeply offended. “It is the duty of all Chinese citizens to uphold the ‘One China’ principle and adamantly safeguard national unification.”

Designer Donatella Versace has since apologised for the “unfortunate” error. “I am deeply sorry for the unfortunate recent error that was made by our company and that is currently being discussed on various social media channels,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Never have I wanted to disrespect China’s national sovereignty, and this is why I wanted to personally apologise for such inaccuracy and for any distress that it might have caused.”

Versace issued a separate apology on Twitter, announcing the T-shirt would no longer be for sale.

SOURCE