Chinese travel agents organizing trips to Tibet said yesterday that they have been ordered not to accept foreign visitors around the March 14 anniversary of a bloody anti-government riot in 2008.
The top Chinese government official for Tibet confirmed there were restrictions, but said they were being enforced for safety reasons, citing possible overcrowding and the bitterly cold winter weather.
Beijing Youth Travel Service saleswoman Li Jianyue said the order was conveyed verbally, as is often the case with official directives that the government does not wish to defend or explain.
“A few days ago, they told us not to organize the foreign groups this month,” Li said.
Liu Qiang, a sales manager at Kangqu International Travel Agent in Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, said his company was notified of the measure in January.
Zhang Qingli (張慶黎), the Chinese Communist Party head for Tibet, told reporters at a briefing on the sidelines of the annual legislative session in Beijing that the regional government “had taken some control measures this year” to limit the number of visitors allowed into Tibet. He didn’t say how long the rules would be in force.
“Except for a few cases and locations, the restrictions on foreign [tourists to Tibet] have been imposed according to government regulations as well as Tibet’s capacity to receive tourists, and other factors such as climate and security,” Zhang said.
“It’s not that the anti-Chinese forces and the Dalai [Lama] clique haven’t thought of it, but the fact is they haven’t been able to stir up any unrest since the March 14 [2008] incident,” Zhang said.
China blamed followers of Tibet’s exiled leader the Dalai Lama for fomenting the 2008 violence, a charge the Buddhist leader denies.
Hotel receptionists reached by phone in Lhasa yesterday also said foreigners were barred from the beginning of the month. The receptionists and the travel agents said the impact would be minimal since the Himalayan region’s bitter winter tends to make this month a low season for tourism.
However, a receptionist at the Jardin Secret Hotel in Lhasa said the ban could last for up to three months.
“This has grown into a yearly practice around March 14 every year,” said the woman, who would give only her surname, Dong, to avoid drawing the ire of authorities.
China strictly limits access by foreigners to Tibet, requiring them to obtain special permits in addition to their Chinese visas and to travel in tour groups.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) dismissed suggestions of heightened domestic tension following calls for anti-government protests inspired by the “Jasmine” uprisings in the Arab world.
“I haven’t noticed any signs of tension [in China],” Yang told reporters during a press briefing at the National People’s Congress.
Chinese authorities have been on edge following political uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, detaining activists and placing restrictions on foreign journalists attempting to cover proposed public rallies in China.
Those behind the anonymous online calls for “Jasmine” rallies each Sunday have said they want to bring attention to Chinese public dissatisfaction with widening income disparity, corruption and misrule.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS