China denies rift with Kazakhstan over visas
China Wednesday denied foreign media reports it suspended individual visa services for Kazakhstan, saying reports of a diplomatic conflict between the two countries were “unreal and misquoted.”
China’s Consulate General in Almaty told the Global Times that China didn’t suspend all individual visa services, but only suspended visa services for individual tourists.
Radio Free Asia ( RFA) reported on Tuesday that relations between the two countries were strained, and that China had suspended individual visa services for Kazakhstani citizens. RFA also cited Kazakhstani media Kazinform International News Agency as saying that Chinese Ambassador Zhang Hanhui expressed “strong discontent” for Kazakhstan’s inconvenient visa policy toward Chinese citizens.
As of press time, the Consulate General’s official website said visa services cover group and individual visas for business, visiting relatives, students, employment and personal matters.
The Consulate General gave no further explanation on why China made a temporary adjustment to its visa policy, or when it would be normalized.
An anonymous official from the Consulate General told the Global Times that they had informed the Kazakhstani government of the temporary adjustment on the policy at the start of the year, and should not be news at all.
“But the Kazakhstani people remain concerned about the adjustment because of economic ties and huge personnel exchanges between the two countries, that the demand for Chinese visas is huge,” he said.
He also said that the Consulate General has contacted Kazakhstani media, who admitted the mistake and deleted relevant reports from their websites, but that the RFA report “greatly misquoted and exaggerated the story.”
A Chinese WeChat public account, “Kazakhstan Information,” said on Wednesday that bilateral ties are enjoying a “honeymoon” for the Belt and Road initiative and “it’s impossible to have a diplomatic rift.” However, compared to China’s visa policy toward Kazakhstan, it’s more difficult for the Chinese to apply for a visa to Kazakhstan.