China is stepping up its policing of international companies such as Inditex-owned Zara and Delta Air Lines and demanding they respect the government's position on long-standing territorial disputes from Taiwan to Tibet.

The Cyber Administration Office in Shanghai on Friday said Zara listed Taiwan, an island that China claims as its own, as a separate country on its website. On the same day, China's Civil Aviation Administration summoned executives of Delta as the carrier lists Taiwan and Tibet, located in western China, as nations on its website. The companies were asked to change the “illegal” contents.

China, emboldened by its growing economic and geopolitical influence, is showing less tolerance of what it sees as violations of its political bottom line by foreign companies. The warnings signal that the country may deploy more sticks against foreign companies that can't risk losing business in the world's second-biggest economy.