U.S. airlines' changes to Taiwan references' incomplete ', China says

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Forty of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, China's civil aviation regulator said on Thursday, adding that measures taken by some airlines were still incomplete.

China has asked that foreign firms, and airlines in particular, do Taiwan is a most-sensitive territorial issue, a request for the White House slammed in May as "Orwellian nonsense."

Beijing considers the island a wayward province of "one China" and has not renounced the possible use of force to bring it under its control.

Hong Kong is a British colony which returned to China in 1997 with wide-ranging autonomy. Macau, to form Portuguese colony, returned to China two years later.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which has been submitted to two-week extension for website audits.

The four were American Airlines Group Inc. ( AAL.O ), Delta Air Lines ( DAL.N ), United Airlines ( UAL.N ) and Hawaiian Airlines ( HA.O ), it added.

The aviation regulator did not say in what way the amendments were incomplete. Taipei's airport code, Taiwan, but not the name of Taiwan.

The CAAC added it would closely monitor the matter and could decide to take "appropriate steps" depending on the situation.

It is unclear how China might punish airlines, but it could not meet the requirements of the United States.

The three biggest US airlines had already made their way to Taiwan on their websites, in a bid to avoid Chinese penalties ahead of a deadline that had been set for July 25.