Recently, a mainland Chinese blogger posted a video claiming that on the day the Paris Olympics ended, while staying at a Taiwan-funded hotel – the Evergreen Laurel Hotel, the flags of participating countries in the Olympics displayed in the hotel did not include the Chinese Communist five-star flag. As a result, they requested to check out, sparking a heated discussion on the internet.
On August 13th, mainland Chinese blogger “张教官” posted a video on platforms like Douyin, stating that when he and his production team checked into the Evergreen Laurel Hotel on the 11th, they noticed that the hotel had flags of Olympic participating countries hanging inside, but did not include the Chinese Communist five-star flag. He informed the front desk that they had a five-star flag ready to hang.
The front desk staff replied that it was a decision made by the management and they couldn’t hang it for them, saying, “You can’t decide on any decorations for the hotel.” “张教官” requested to speak to the hotel manager, but the person refused, saying, “Today is Sunday.” Consequently, “张教官” asked to check out.
Later, “张教官” found a Chinese chef named “Master Yang” who claimed to work as the executive chef for Chinese cuisine at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Paris. The chef stated that there had originally been a five-star flag placed but it was ordered to be removed by the Taiwanese General Manager with the surname Su, and his protest was ineffective.
This video shattered the hearts of nationalistic mainland Chinese internet users, who called for a boycott of the Evergreen Laurel Hotel, stating that they “will not stay at any hotel under the Evergreen brand” and claimed the boycott was to “reject Taiwanese independence.” Booking platforms like Ctrip and Meituan also removed the hotel from their listings.
However, Taiwanese people have different perspectives. A Taiwanese university student shared with Radio Free Asia that after watching the video, they felt “张教官” reacted too exaggeratedly.
Another individual, Ms. Zheng, commented: “I have quite a bit of travel experience, having visited many countries, and most hotels don’t hang our ‘Republic of China flag,’ usually they do hang the five-star flag. If they occasionally come across a hotel that doesn’t display the five-star flag, I think the nationalistic response is really unnecessary and could harm their own interests. We Taiwanese should take it easy and not be so easily offended.”
Commentator Wang Jian believes that there is currently no evidence suggesting the internet celebrity was officially assigned by the Chinese Communist Party to stir up trouble. However, the incident became a hot topic on Chinese social media overnight, indicating that the authorities may be capitalizing on it.
On the social media platform X, many people left comments in simplified Chinese characters, expressing their opinions.
“This person is quite popular on Douyin for filming his life with his flight attendant wife. This is just for more views, like the ‘greasy hair’ causing a scene in a Japanese restaurant ‘Empress Dowager’ and the ‘iron head’ vandalizing at Yasukuni Shrine, all looking for nationalist views. But without exception, those seeking nationalist views will eventually backfire on themselves, it’s best to end up with no views at all, otherwise they will face a heavy blow.”
“Not understanding boundaries, like a giant baby without self-awareness, always needing directions wherever they go, demanding that the whole world revolves around them. This pathological behavior, is there a cure?”
“Every day shouting for unification by force, frequently sending warplanes to harass Taiwan, how much contempt do you have to provoke from others before they truly detest you to the core? Why should they fly your flag? He has the freedom not to hang it, his actions have not violated the law, understanding this is crucial. People with underdeveloped intelligence just don’t learn to think about issues from multiple perspectives.”
“Firstly, whether the hotel hangs the bloodstained flag of the Chinese Communist Party is the hotel’s freedom! Secondly, to the blogger who filmed the video, how dare you even have a surname like Zhao?”
“Ask these people if hotels owned by mainlanders would hang the flag of the Republic of China with the blue sky, white sun, and a full moon.”