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Recently, a short video posted by a Chinese internet celebrity named "Instructor Zhang's Interesting Life" has caused heated discussions on social platforms. The video shows that during the Paris Olympics, "Instructor Zhang" stayed at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris and found that the Chinese flag was the only one missing from the flags of participating countries hanging in the hotel lobby. He asked the hotel management to hang it up but was refused.

Once the incident was exposed, it continued to heat up on mainland social media, and netizens expressed their firm boycott of the hotel's behavior. The official website shows that Evergreen Laurel Hotel is a hotel brand created by Taiwan Evergreen Group. At present, many platforms such as Ctrip and Meituan have removed the hotel from their listings.

On August 13, a video posted by a netizen named "Zhang Jiaoguan" sparked heated discussion

On August 15, the official website of Evergreen Laurel Hotel (Shanghai) issued an apology statement, signed by Evergreen Laurel Hotel, saying that the matter was not handled properly and did not want to affect the feelings of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Pictured is the apology statement issued by Evergreen Laurel Hotel

The hotel apologized and said it did not want to affect the feelings of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait

In the video, "Instructor Zhang" negotiated with Evergreen Laurel Hotel several times about not hanging the Chinese flag, and offered to use the five-star red flag, but the hotel refused. Then "Instructor Zhang" canceled his stay and asked the hotel chef to find out the situation. The chef said that the hotel originally hung the Chinese flag, but the manager asked him to cut it off. The hotel responded, "Regarding the recent comments from passengers on the hotel's Olympic layout, the hotel deeply regrets that it failed to provide the best experience for passengers."

After the incident fermented on the mainland social media platform, it sparked heated public discussion. Some netizens found that the "Select Hotel" column on the hotel's official website booking interface listed "Taiwan" and "China" side by side, and expressed their firm resistance to this.

Netizens all expressed "firm resistance"

On the 15th, the hotel issued a latest statement saying that it was deeply sorry for the lack of consideration in handling this incident, which caused some guests to feel bad and caused concern from all walks of life. The hotel will continue to strengthen the education and training of relevant personnel to avoid similar incidents from happening again in the future.

The statement pointed out that the hotel does not want this incident to affect the feelings of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The statement specifically mentioned that when Evergreen Group President Chang Yung-fa was alive, he was also committed to promoting cross-strait economic and trade cooperation and spared no effort to integrate the group's corporate resources to give back to society. Evergreen Laurel Hotel also adheres to President Chang's philosophy as always, "hoping that cross-strait relations will develop peacefully and move in the direction that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait expect."

The founder once said that he is "Taiwanese and Chinese"

The president mentioned in the latest statement is Chang Yung-fa, the founder of Taiwan's Evergreen Group. He was born in Yilan, Taiwan in 1927 and passed away in 2016. He founded Evergreen Marine in 1968. After decades of development, the business has expanded to land transportation, aviation, hotels and other fields. Chang Yung-fa had been engaged in charity work for a long time before his death. After the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the 2013 Ya'an earthquake and the 2014 Ludian earthquake, he donated money to the disaster areas to assist in disaster relief.

The picture shows Chang Jung-fa, founder of Taiwan's Evergreen Group. The picture is from China Times News Network

Before the 2012 Taiwan regional leadership election, Chang Yung-fa said that the "1992 Consensus" is the basis for cross-strait dialogue; only by recognizing the "1992 Consensus" can Taiwan benefit. Taiwanese media have pointed out that as a super heavyweight entrepreneur in Taiwan, Chang Yung-fa has a deep national identity and his position on the harmonious coexistence of the people on both sides of the strait and the peaceful development of cross-strait relations is worthy of attention.

Regarding the so-called "Taiwan independence", Chang Yung-fa once clearly stated in public that "of course I cannot agree to it" because "Taiwan is a small island and the most important thing is that the people's lives must be stable. This is the most important thing." He once said in his oral works that he "is both Taiwanese and Chinese."

Source: China News Service

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Changed the area display of Evergreen Hotels official website booking

Recently, a blogger revealed that the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris refused to fly the Chinese flag during the Olympics, and its official response said that it was their right to fly the flag of all nations instead of the Chinese flag, which caused heated discussions. In addition, according to media reports on August 15, the hotel's official website listed "China" and "Taiwan" as separate regions under the "Asia" region in the "Select a Hotel" column.

On August 16, the hotel's official website was checked again, and the "region" option had been cancelled, marking the hotel's location. In addition, when entering the Evergreen Laurel Hotel (Shanghai) page, a statement from the Evergreen Laurel Hotel popped up, saying that "the hotel was not thoughtful enough in handling this incident, which caused some guests to feel bad and caused concern from all walks of life. We are deeply sorry." The Qichacha APP shows that the affiliated company of Shanghai Evergreen Laurel Hotel is Evergreen (Shanghai) Hotel Co., Ltd., which was established in March 2011. The legal representative is Ye Jiaquan, with a registered capital of US$80 million and is wholly owned by Evergreen International Co., Ltd.

Changed the area display of Evergreen Hotels official website booking