Several travel-related apps removed a Japanese hotel again on Monday after Chinese netizens criticized the reappearance of the hotel, which once openly denied the Nanjing Massacre.
The travel app Qunar, hotel and restaurant listing apps Meituan and other travel apps all removed Japan's APA hotel, which provided books openly denying the Nanjing Massacre in China and "comfort women" in Korea during World War II, after netizens complained the formerly banned hotel re-appeared on these Chinese travel apps.
After the hotel's reappearance, many netizens complained that the Chinese have already forgotten the APA's behavior and demanded that authorities severely punish these agencies.
Qunar said it had removed 70 APA chain hotels when the APA incident occurred early this year but failed to remove two of the chain hotels because the hotels failed to properly identify themselves online.
The hotel once provoked outcry in China for providing such books after media exposure in January, with many calling for a boycott against the hotel chain.
China's National Tourism Administration said in January that it required all overseas travel companies and travel apps to suspend dealing with this hotel and urged Chinese tourists to boycott the chain, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
