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Travel agencies in Beijing have been asked to withdraw France as a tourist destination, starting this week.
The move appears to have come from the Beijing Municipality. CITS says that they have been asked to suspend travels to France until further notice. Tours to France in June are on, but July's trips are cancelled. BTG International Travel Tours had the same info but CTS said all groups departing for France are now officially off. An article on Sohu.com cited by Aujourdhuilachine.com (we weren't able to find specific article) indicated that "trips to France have been cancelled" and that this destination "was also withdrawn from tours including several European countries."
The cancellation of tours to France follows a period of tensions between France and China, sparked off by the handling of the Olympic torch relay in Paris, and illustrated by the demonstrations against Carrefour in April across China. The general mood between the two countries nowadays today remains tense. The Dalai Lama is expected to visit France in August, but as of now, no official meeting between him and state members or representatives has been scheduled. Last week, Chinese Ambassador to France, Kong Quan, had declared that an interview between President Sarkozy and the Tibetan spiritual leader was a very unlikely possibility, but seriously, who knows what is going to happen next.
Photo by Thierry B
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It is disconcerting to see China sinking into that "freedom fries" mentality that plagued the USA. These actions accomplish nothing except enmity. There is no tangible progress made by taking such infantile actions.
Hooray! What a relief! Finally one country that is safe to travel to, free from the company of Chinese tourists. Can we have the same for the rest of Europe, please?
whoa... this seems relatively out of the blue... why didn't they do this right after the torch relay incident several months ago?
2 jetliners from France delivered a bunch of aid and tents to the earthquake victims just yesterday. This thing doesn't seem very well coordinated.
In addition to the valid comments already made by Fuzi and Sirlogic, I would add that there is also a very distasteful angle to this story from a Chinese point of view as well.
Indeed, it must be rather irritating for Chinese citizens to still be treated like infants by some official trying to impose on them a (supposedly politically correct) choice of holliday destination.
@ppmartin
This applies to group tours. The masses have been brought on to the party line already, so they are very likely to agree and obey.
Individual travelers can - and probably will - go to France as they please.
This displays nicely, how commercial enterprises in China must make business decisions according to the convenience of the Communist Party. The economy must serve the Communist Party. This applies to all Chinese companies, also the ones listed on the stock exchange.
Do you want to invest here? Think again.
Oh, and of course there will be the convenient explanation, that the tours have not been canceled for political reasons, but because of lack of bookings, as all Chinese will be staying home to watch the Olympic Games.
Wow. France is a pretty influential party to the IOC. Would this have happened a few years ago? All this stagecraft is just wearisome.
@ Pirx,
How long have you been in China? Do you speak Chinese? The masses do not always obey and agree. People who travel will be grumbling over this. Plus those who have enough cash to travel abroad, tour group or not, are not exactly 'the masses.' They have cash, businesses and influence. Look for the ban to be short-term.
Perhaps you were just a little annoyed that ppmartin had not included you in his assessment of 'valid comments'. Kudos to him.