Japanese noodle chain forced to change menus after Taiwan

SHANGHAI (AFP) - Ajisen Noodles, a popular Japanese fast-food chain operating in China, has been forced to change its menus after sparking uproar by referring to Taiwan as an independent country.

"We are sorry. It is by all means a serious mistake with the copy editing of the menu," Miao Tianfu, a spokesman for the Japanese-based company, said Thursday.

"We are simply a commercial agent for Japanese food. We don't want to see this issue utilized for political purposes."

The menus contained a map and a list of the various places where Ajisen Noodles has outlets, grouped by country.

Under China, the list includes several cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong. But Taipei was listed under the "country" of Taiwan.

The blunder was disclosed on an online message board used by students at Fudan University on Sunday, which sparked a heated response on the Internet, the Shanghai Daily said.

All of the company's outlets have stopped using the menus and the person responsible for the mistake had been fired, it reported.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunified, by force if necessary.