CHINA SHUTS MARRIOTT WEBSITE

China shuts Marriott website over Tibet error, scolds other firms.

Authorities in China have down Marriott's local website and for a week and scolded Delta, Zara and a US medical firm Friday for listing Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong as separate countries.

Alongside Marriott, the Spanish clothing giant Zara, Delta Air Lines and Meditronic -a medical device company -were all called out by Chinese authorities for ''illegal classification of regions, that Beijing claims under its authority.

Shanghai's cyberspace authority late Thursday ordered Marriott to close its Chinese website and app for a week and completely clear out illegal and irregular information according to a government statement.

The same authority said in a statement on Friday that the websites for Zara and Meditronic had included Taiwan and ''Republic of China[Taiwan]'', respectively in their country lists.

The companies were urged to ''immediately alter their illegal content and publish apologies.''

While Marriott apologised, public anger further escalated after the official Twitter account of Marriott Rewards-

Liked a Tweet from ''Friends of Tibet'', an India based group that supports Tibetan independence and congratulated the hotel chain for listing Tibet as a country.

Marriott president and chief executive Arne Sorenson soon issued a lengthy apology letter, which described ''like'' as careless.

''Marriott International respects and supports the sovereignty and and territorial integrity of China.

Unfortunately, twice this week, we had incidents that suggested the opposite,'' said Sorenson.

''Upon completion of a full investigation into how both incidents happened, we will be taking the necessary disciplinary action with respect to the individuals involved, which could include termination.''