Chinese star cuts ties with Swiss watch brand over Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — A former member of popular K-pop band EXO says he’s cutting ties with a Swiss luxury watch brand, after its CEO referred to Taiwan as a country in an interview. China claims Taiwan as its territory, and objects to any reference to the self-governing island as a country. Chinese singer and actor Lu Han was an ambassador for watch brand Audemars Piguet since 2018. A statement Sunday from Lu’s studio said he’d urged the watch brand to apologize, but failed to reach an agreement. The brand had released a statement Saturday apologizing for its error. It wasn’t immediately clear what the source of their disagreement was.