Beijing to respond to Washington’s visa curbs
China will impose visa restrictions on US officials who have behaved egregiously on Tibet-related issues, in response to the US decision to impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.
Zhao made the remarks after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Tuesday that Washington will restrict visas for some Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act because it claims that Beijing obstructs travel to the Tibet autonomous region by US diplomats, journalists and tourists.
China firmly opposes the US move, Zhao said, and he urged the US to stop interfering in China’s domestic affairs under the excuse of Tibet-related issues, and warned Washington against “going further down the erroneous path” and further undermining China-US ties.
Tibet affairs are purely China’s domestic affairs that allow no foreign interference, Zhao said.
China is open to the outside world, as is its Tibet autonomous region, he said.
There is no problem for foreigners to enter Tibet, and China has never made regulations restricting their access to the region, which “receives a large number of foreign tourists and people from all walks of life every year”, Zhao said.
From 2015 to 2018, the region received about 176,000 foreigners, including around 175,000 tourists, about 500 diplomats and 343 reporters, he said.
In 2019, more than 40 million tourists, from home and abroad, visited Tibet, Zhao said.
US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad visited Tibet in 2019.
Due to Tibet’s special geographical and climate conditions, the Chinese government has made management and protective measures regarding the entry of foreigners to the region, Zhao said, adding that these measures are “totally necessary and beyond reproach”.
China will not change its policy of welcoming more foreigners to visit, tour and do business in the region, but as a prerequisite, they must obey China’s law and regulations and follow necessary procedures, Zhao said.