Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 China has shut down the Chinese websites of Marriott International for a week, after the firm listed Tibet and others as separate countries. 
 
 The hotel group has apologised for the error and said it did not support separatist movements in China. 
 
 Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau were listed as individual nations in an online survey sent to customers. 
 
 Beijing considers self-ruling Taiwan to be a breakaway province and Tibet is governed as an autonomous region. 
 
 Hong Kong and Macau are both special administrative regions of China. 
 
 Marriott was also chastised after one of the firm's social media accounts "liked" a post made by a group supporting a separatist Tibet. 
 
 Chinese media is reporting that some travellers are cancelling Marriott reservations in response. 
 
 'Respect Chinese sovereignty' 
 
 China is usually quick to respond to any actions or statements it deems supportive of separatist movements, especially related to Tibet and Taiwan. 
 
 While the hotel's international website is still available within China, the Shanghai Cyberspace Administration ordered it to close a Mandarin version. 
 
 Authorities also shut down Marriott's Chinese mobile phone app as part of its punishment for the Mandarin-language survey. But having being closed earlier, the app now appears to be functioning. 
 
 Image caption This is what you see when you visit the Marriott website in China -it says the site is being updated, and also gives an apology 
 
 On Thursday the hotel group's chief executive Arne Sorenson issued an apology, saying his firm "respects and supports Chinese sovereignty and its territorial integrity". 
 
 "We don't support anyone who subverts the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and we do not intend in any way to encourage or incite any such people or groups," Mr Sorenson said. 
 
 "Unfortunately, twice this week, we had incidents that suggested the opposite." 
 
 The statement added that the company would take "necessary" disciplinary action against staff involved, which may include termination. 
 
 Mr Sorenson has previously described China as his firm's biggest market. While Marriott has over 100 hotels in the country under different brands, it is also keen to profit from the swelling number of Chinese people travelling internationally. 
 
 Last year it launched a joint travel venture with China's ecommerce giant Alibaba. ||||| Mercedes-Benz apologizes to the Chinese people for quoting Dalai Lama on its Instagram page 
 
 The brand has promised to deepen its employees understanding of Chinese culture and values 
 
 Shanghaiist.com Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 6, 2018 
 
 Mercedes-Benz has apologized — rather profusely — for quoting the Dalai Lama in an advertisement on its Instagram page. That apparently offensive quote from His Holiness? 
 
 “Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.” 
 
 For finding some #MondayMotivation in the words of the Tibetan spiritual leader — who China regards as a separatist and “wolf in monk’s robes” — the luxury German automaker posted an apology on its official Weibo page earlier this afternoon: 
 
 This morning, we noticed that our company’s international social media had posted an extremely erroneous message. For this, we sincerely apologize. 
 
 Although we deleted the post as soon as possible, we fully understand how it has hurt the feelings of people in this country, including our colleagues who work in the country. For this, we express our sincerest apologies. 
 
 We fully understand and respect the feelings of our compatriots on this issue and accept criticism and comments from all parties. 
 
 Taking this incident as a guide, we will immediately take practical actions to deepen our understanding of Chinese culture and values — including for our overseas colleagues — and regulate our behavior to prevent such incidents from occurring again. 
 
 Finally, we sincerely apologize again. 
 
 While Mercedes-Benz has not allowed comments on its apology post, a lively discussion on the issue is ongoing over on the official Weibo account of the nationalistic Global Times tabloid. 
 
 “ Foreign companies do not understand our national conditions, but this is not an excuse to not deal with them,” argued one netizen. 
 
 “Just one apology and that’s it? At least give all your Weibo fans a car!” commented another. 
 
 “Why has this apology been issued only in Chinese? Why not on international social media as well?” wrote one inquisitive net user. 
 
 Meanwhile, the brand’s Instagram page has been hit with the usual deluge of angry Chinese commenters, who reliably emerge en masse following feelings-hurting incidents like these: 
 
 “Apologize please,If u still want China’s market.Use Dalai Lama’s words is not a good choice.If our advertisement use Hitler’s words,what do you think,” wrote one of these internet warriors. 
 
 Last month, international brands like Marriott, Delta, and Zara were also forced to apologize to China and the Chinese people after being exposed for listing Taiwan and/or Tibet as “countries” on their websites. 
 
 “Marriott International respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We don’t support separatist groups that subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We sincerely apologize for any actions that may have suggested otherwise,” the hotel chain tweeted after being outed. ||||| Mercedes-Benz has apologised for "hurting the feelings" of the people of China for quoting the Dalai Lama on Instagram. 
 
 The German auto giant became the latest of several international companies that have backpedalled recently for offending Chinese consumers with advertising or information that clashes with Beijing's official position on Tibet and other Chinese-claimed regions. 
 
 Mercedes' seemingly benign post to its official Instagram account showed a Benz on a beach before rolling white-capped waves. 
 
 "Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open," the ad copy ran, citing the Dalai Lama, who is seen by Beijing as a separatist. 
 
 "Start your week with a fresh perspective on life from the Dalai Lama," the carmaker wrote in the tagline. ||||| Mercedes-Benz China apologized on Tuesday for its parent company quoting the Dalai Lama in an “extremely wrong message” on social media. 
 
 The apology came after a post on Mercedes-Benz’s Instagram account showed a luxury vehicle and quoted the Dalai Lama saying “Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.” 
 
 The post not only hurt the feelings of the Chinese people, but also challenged their bottom line on national sovereignty. 
 
 Mercedes-Benz delivered more than 600,000 new cars in China in 2017, setting a global record in a single market, according to Hubertus Troska, who is responsible for the Greater China, attributing the result to Chinese customers’ trust in the company. 
 
 The car company followed in the footsteps of U.S. hotel chain Marriott, who just recently apologized for wrongly labeling Chinese territories as independent countries. 
 
 Chasing profits in China while hurting the feelings of the Chinese people, the reason for this conduct of some foreign enterprises is unacceptable. 
 
 The Dalai Lama’s agenda to split the country in the name of “autonomy” is well-known around the world, and anyone who supports him is clearly against China. 
 
 At a Tibet work conference held in August 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that the international community should understand that foreign interference in China’s domestic affairs is intolerable. 
 
 The President sent a clear message that any country, enterprise, or individual should not challenge the core interests of China, and any activity to split China will never be tolerated. 
 
 As a foreign enterprise, Mercedes–Benz always stresses its social responsibilities, but hurting Chinese customers and crossing the red line of sovereignty is not socially responsible. 
 
 Tolerance is a virtue of the Chinese culture, but tolerance has its limits. How will the German people react if a foreign enterprise speaks highly of Adolf Hitler and propagates his quotes, or worships views that try to separate German? 
 
 Clearly, cultural tolerance should not an excuse for a foreign firm to challenge the limits of a host country. 
 
 In its apology, Mercedes-Benz said it will deepen understanding of Chinese culture and values among its staff, including overseas staff. But the apology lacks sincerity and reflects the German carmaker’s lack of understanding of Chinese culture and values. 
 
 China’s core interests cannot be challenged. Without sincere reflection, any foreign car business will not survive in China.
– "Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open." These words are hardly controversial, but in China, the figure who spoke them is. It's for that reason that Mercedes-Benz and its parent company have each apologized after the German automaker included the quote from the Dalai Lama in a #MondayMotivation Instagram post this week, per the BBC. Instagram isn't accessible in China, where the Tibetan spiritual leader is viewed as a threatening separatist, but Chinese users who caught wind of the post were furious, with one likening it to quoting Hitler, per Shanghaiist. After the post was deleted, Mercedes-Benz offered a resounding apology Tuesday on social media site Weibo, describing the ad as carrying "an extremely erroneous message." While China's Foreign Ministry approved of the apology, it wasn't enough for some. The People's Daily newspaper said the apology "lacks sincerity and reflects … [a] lack of understanding of Chinese culture and values." Mercedes-Benz's parent company, Daimler, then sent a written apology to China's ambassador to Germany on Wednesday, acknowledging "the hurt and grief that its negligent and insensitive mistake has caused to the Chinese people." Too much? Not for a company that wants to keep a foothold in China's massive consumer market, reports the Telegraph, which notes the band Placebo was permanently banned from China for posting a photo of the Dalai Lama on Instagram.