China warns citizens over travel to S.Korea
Public outrage over THAAD affects business, social exchange
China’s tourism authorities on Friday warned Chinese citizens over their plans to travel to South Korea.
The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) warned Chinese to “seriously and fully study South Korea’s entry policy before traveling,” read a notice released on the administration’s website.
It added that travelers should have a clear mind about the risk of traveling abroad and cautiously choose their destination.
According to the CNTA notice, the warning was issued after a rising number of Chinese were denied entry to South Korea’s Jeju island, with some of the travelers being stranded in the Jeju airport for a long time.
Several Chinese tourists had been denied entry to the island in February for various reasons and were detained in a shabby “tiny dark” room in the Jeju airport, the Beijing News reported, months after the newspaper reported more than 100 Chinese tourists were denied entry and asked to stay in the designated waiting room in October 2016.
Those who were stranded in the room in February told the newspaper that some travelers were detained for five days and the travel agency said the denial of entry is very frequent.
The CNTA has lodged serious representations to related authorities and met with several officials and diplomats from South Korea’s embassy in China, according to the notice.
Jeju is the only region in South Korea that has a visa-free policy for Chinese visitors, who can stay up to 30 days in the island after entry. The policy was implemented in 2008.
Tourism impact
The warning was made one day after South Korean media reported that China has set out to ban its people from traveling to South Korea in protest against Seoul’s deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.
However, travel agencies reached by the Global Times on Thursday night and Friday, including the Beijing-based BTG International Travel & Tours and the branches of China International Travel Service in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Northwest China’s Gansu Province, said they did not receive any official or non-official notice on a travel ban to South Korea.
Bookings for travel to South Korea on some online platforms, including Mafengwo and Tmall, are still open.
China’s foreign ministry on Friday reaffirmed its open and positive attitude toward the exchange and cooperation with South Korea, while adding that the exchanges require “proper popular support and appropriate public opinion.”
“Rather than making speculations out of thin air or filling oneself with suspicions,” South Korea is better to listen to the public opinion and take effective measures to avoid hurting the exchanges, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing on Friday.
On Tuesday, South Korea’s Lotte signed an agreement with military to provide land for the THAAD deployment, which angered many Chinese who vowed to boycott South Korea’s products and services.
Many Chinese companies including food, car and cosmetics enterprises have already started to boycott and end their cooperation with their South Korean partners.
Online travel service provider Tongcheng, Tuniu and Ctrip have removed all the travel products related to South Korea, including trips and tourist guide services.
A 26-year-old woman surnamed Zhai from Central China’s Henan Province told the Global Times that she has canceled their travel plan to South Korea and changed to Thailand for late March, saying she feels uncomfortable to spend money in a country that “stubbornly deploys a system that jeopardizes China’s national interest.”
“In addition, traveling should be fun and relaxed, and I don’t want to spend the vacation with my family in a country with political uncertainty,” Zhai said.
China must take some serious countermeasures against the deployment of THAAD and the boycott from public could make South Korea feel the power and prompt it to reconsider the situation, Tan Jieqing, a deputy of the National People’s Congress, told news outlet k618.cn on Friday.