Photo: screenshot from a netizen who goes by the web name of "Interesting life of Instructor Zhang"

After Chinese mainland netizens called for a boycott against a hotel chain owned by a Taiwan-based company due to its Paris hotel's refusal to display the Chinese national flag in its lobby along with flags of other countries and regions during the Paris Olympics, the hotel issued an apology on Thursday, with many netizens quick to question its sincerity.

The hotel has always adhered to the spirit of prioritizing customer service, and is committed to providing every guest with a perfect accommodation experience. However, the handling of this incident was not thorough, leading to dissatisfaction among some guests and raising concerns across various sectors, according to the statement.

The hotel apologized for the omission and said it will continue to strengthen the education and training of the relevant personnel to avoid the recurrence of similar situations in the future.

The hotel does not want this incident to affect the emotions of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, according to the statement. The hotel also hopes that cross-Straits relations will develop peacefully in the direction of the common expectations of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

However, many netizens criticized the hotel's apology as insincere and evasive, suggesting that it was only issued to maintain profitability. Many have pointed out that it wasn't even a real apology, failing to specify in detail whether the hotel now displays the Chinese national flag or the people concerned had been punished.

The Evergreen Laurel Hotel, owned by Taiwan-based Evergreen International Corporation, is facing accusations after an internet influencer exposed the incident and claimed that the Paris-based hotel deliberately removed the Chinese national flag.

According to a video uploaded Tuesday, when checking in at the hotel in Paris, the influencer, who goes by the web name of "Interesting life of Instructor Zhang," noticed that the hotel was decorated with flags from various countries and regions participating in the Paris Olympics, but surprisingly, the Chinese flag was missing.

Given the hotel is popular within the Chinese mainland tourists, Zhang found the absence of the Chinese flag odd.

However, when Zhang raised the issue with the hotel reception, no explanation was given, and the receptionist refused to hang the flag, citing customers having "no authority to intervene [in hotel's decoration]."

Later, when Zhang offered the Chinese flag to the hotel staff, they once again rejected him.

The attitude of the hotel has angered Zhang who decided to cancel his reservation at the hotel.

Another video updated by Zhang a day later showed that a mainland chef working at the hotel, surnamed Yang, revealed that the Chinese national flag among the various flags originally displayed was ordered to be removed by the hotel manager surnamed Su, who was born on the island of Taiwan.

Yang had protested multiple times, but the hotel management warned Yang not to interfere.

The influencer estimated 60 to 70 percent of the guests at the hotel at that day were from Chinese mainland. The hotel is estimated to have made millions of euros during the Olympics by hosting mainland tourists.

Floods of mainland netizens criticized the hotel, questioning whether it is supporting "Taiwan independence."

Meanwhile, the Asia section of the hotel's official website listed 'Taiwan' and 'China' side by side, the Beijing Daily reported on Thursday. As of Friday, the hotel removed the option to list Taiwan alongside China. Currently, many booking platforms have removed this hotel from their search results.

Global Times