Quite a few years ago the Chinese Government in Beijing brought in a rule that said airlines operating services to Taiwan could not operate into mainland China.  Quite a few airlines then created subsidiaries for flights to Taiwan.  JAL with JAA, KLM with KLM asia, British Airways with British Asia Airways, Swissair with Swissair Asia etc.  I think it's only KLM who still have aircraft painted with these titles.  Japan Asia Airways was merged back into JAL mainline at the end of Mar-08.
Ken Fielding
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