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Beijing abandons plans to reopen Tibet to tourists on May 1

China has abandoned plans to reopen riot-hit Tibet to visitors on May 1, a tourism official in the Himalayan region said yesterday, amid reports of simmering tension there.

Asked whether the reopening for foreign and domestic tourists had been postponed, a Tibet Tourism Bureau official said by phone: “Yes, because conditions are not ripe for it.”

The man, who refused to give his name but said he was director of the bureau’s main office in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, said a new date had not been set.

“No. It’s not decided yet,” he said, refusing to give further details.

Tour organizers had been informed of the postponement, a tour operator in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu who regularly arranges trips to Tibet said.

“Yes, they have told us. But they haven’t indicated what the new date would be,” said the woman, who organizes such trips from a guest house in the city.

She asked to remain anonymous to avoid trouble with authorities.

The US-based International Campaign for Tibet first reported the postponement last week, saying the reversal was because of lingering unrest and that Tibet might not be reopened until after the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Beijing Olympics.

Chinese authorities began clearing Tibet of foreign tourists after riots erupted in the region’s capital, Lhasa, on March 14 amid protests by Tibetans against China’s rule of the remote region.

Foreign reporters were also banned as China sent in a massive security force to quell the unrest, which spread to other areas of western China with Tibetan populations.
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