Petition to Seven & i Holdings — Correct 'China (Taiwan)' and 'China (Hong Kong)' Labeling
- Project
- CAM-005
- Location
- Seven & i Holdings Headquarters, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- Date
- 12–21 July 2025
In July 2025, Seven & i Holdings published a social media post introducing staff uniforms across "19 countries and regions" where the company operates. In that post, Hong Kong and Taiwan were labelled "中国（香港）" (China (Hong Kong)) and "中国（台湾）" (China (Taiwan)) — the only entries in the list to have "China" prepended to their name.
The labelling follows the framing used by the Chinese government to assert sovereignty over Hong Kong and Taiwan. For Hong Kongers and Taiwanese, and for the many Japanese citizens who understand the political context, the choice was not a neutral formatting decision. It was a political statement — one that subordinates the identity of both places to Beijing's territorial claims.
Lady Liberty Hong Kong launched a petition on Change.org addressed to Seven & i Holdings, calling on the company to correct the labelling to "台湾" (Taiwan) and "香港" (Hong Kong), and to establish clear editorial standards for the naming of politically sensitive territories in future communications.
Within less than one hour of the petition going live, Seven & i Holdings deleted the post and issued a corporate apology. The petition had already begun to circulate widely at that point. The apology, however, was notable for what it omitted: neither "Taiwan" nor "Hong Kong" was mentioned by name, and no commitment was made to correct the labelling formally or to establish future safeguards.
The petition continued collecting signatures. It ultimately reached 11,633 verified signatories.
On 13 July, Lady Liberty Hong Kong held an in-person protest outside Seven & i Holdings' headquarters in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. On 21 July, flyers explaining the issue were distributed at Nakano Station.
The campaign demonstrated that corporate decisions which adopt the Chinese government's political framing — even in apparently routine contexts such as a uniform showcase — are subject to public accountability. The speed of the corporate response, and its incompleteness, both confirmed the same point: the framing mattered, and the company knew it.
The petition remains accessible at: https://www.change.org/hktaiwanisnotchina