The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) has demanded that all Chinese outbound tourism companies and online travel agents stop cooperation with Japan's APA hotel chain, while also calling on individual Chinese tourists to choose other hotels as a means of extending the boycott. In addition, all APA ads will be removed from the Chinese market.

The new restrictions come after media reported that APA places a controversial book in all its guest rooms. The book claims that the 1937 massacre of Chinese troops and civilians by Japanese soldiers in Nanjing is nothing more than a “fabrication.” Even after the story spread, APA refused to remove the books, stubbornly sticking to its original policy.

Zhang Lizhong, spokesperson for CNTA, said that the troubling behavior of APA is both disrespectful and unethical, and China must come out strongly against it.