Akwizgran? Don't you mean
Aix-la-Chapelle?
Seriously though, I think
there's more at stake here than just political correctness.
It all depends on context. In an
English conversation, the use of Roma or Warszawa or Moskva would be
pretentious.
However, in a public context,
one has to bear in mind political sensitivities. The different forms of names
for towns carry political and historic connotations whether one likes it or not,
particularly in eastern Europe and the ex-colonial world.
In atlases, gazetteers,
timetables, road maps etc. is makes sense to use one standard form, and that
being the form the user is most likely to encounter, i.e. the native
form.
Nevertheless, there are
instances of the lunatic extreme of political correctness in all this - Baile
atha Cliath being one in my opinion. The worst case I know if is in Wales, where
all road signs are in Welsh (first) then English. This makes for very large
signs, and for a potential driving hazard when you're trying to find your way.
Of course, this had to be done because, while all Welsh people speak English,
only a minority speak Welsh.
Just for your info, neither the name nor
the pronunciation of Beijing has changed. All that has changed is the
transliteration system used. The old system (Wade-something-or-other) rendered
it as Peking, which led to it being pronounced like
"peeking".
Cheers
Dennis Poulter