The White House on Saturday harshly criticised China's efforts to require foreign airlines to change how they refer to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, labeling the effort "Orwellian nonsense."

In a statement, the White House said the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration sent a letter to 36 foreign air carriers, including a number of US carriers, demanding changes.

The carriers were told to remove references on websites or in other material that suggests Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are part of countries independent from China, US and airline officials said.

Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial issue, with China considering the self-ruled, democratic island a wayward province. Hong Kong and Macau are former European colonies that are now part of China but run largely autonomously.

"The United States strongly objects to China’s attempts to compel private firms to use specific language of a political nature in their publicly available content," the White House said in its statement. "We call on China to stop threatening and coercing American carriers and citizens."

The White House said that President Donald Trump "will stand up for Americans resisting efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to impose Chinese political correctness on American companies and citizens. ... This is Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies."