French tour operators fear a “catastrophic” plunge in business after an order was apparently given to Chinese travel agents to stop selling trips to the country.
France is the most popular European holiday destination for Chinese tourists and some 700,000 flocked to the country last year, with Paris, the Cote d’Azur and the Loire chateau region the most popular destinations.
But many canceled their trips after demonstrators disrupted the Olympic flame’s passage through Paris last month, and travel agents in Beijing said they had now been advised to remove France from their destinations from this week.
“It is a catastrophic year for Chinese tourism in France,” Philippe Yao, director of the China Comfort Travel agency in France, said on Thursday.
He said his agency had already had several cancelations following the pro-Tibet demonstrations in Paris and warned of “serious economic consequences” for the sector.
Among those who canceled was a group of 35 Chinese couples traveling to celebrate their weddings in a French chateau.
“The advice to discourage Chinese tourists from visiting France hasn’t been officially confirmed, but it is being applied now by the travel agencies,” said Pierre Shi, director of the China Travel Service agency.
French authorities are trying to confirm that “the Beijing tourism administration apparently issued a recommendation” to travel agents to stop selling trips to France, a diplomatic source said on Thursday.
“Chinese tourists who have already received their visas and paid for their trips won’t cancel. The flow of visitors will likely drop in the months to come,” said Paul Roll, director of the Paris Tourism Office.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese