US airlines following the piper's tune

China recently asked foreign airlines politely to stop subverting China's territorial integrity by listing the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao as "separate countries". Immediately, the White House launched a disturbing smear campaign against China, calling its request "Orwellian nonsense". It said it would "stand up to China imposing Chinese political correctness on American companies".

Now, that actually points to the United States' problem: Orwellian nonsense and political correctness. The US, employing its own Orwellian nonsense, systematically censors Chinese names and replaces them with whatever nonsense harms Beijing and serves Washington's ill will. Imagine the rest of the world distinguished, say, New Mexico, California, Alaska and Hawaii as independent countries.

To the historian, however, language games have always been a key part of Western warfare: One rule for the ages: Call your adversary by any name but the correct one.