Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

China won't re-open Tibet till after Olympics -group
10 Apr 2008 08:38:29 GMT
 Source: Reuters
BEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - China will not re-open the restive mountain region of Tibet to foreigners until after the August Olympics, scrapping plans to try to let tourists back in by early May, a U.S.-based Tibetan rights group asserted.

The National Tourism Administration as well as the Tibet government and tourism authority had no immediate comment.

A decision to delay the reopening might indicate that China's Communist government was still worried that Tibet was unstable and would remain so for months after a series of protests and a riot in Lhasa on March 14 rocked the region and neighbouring areas.

Normally, travel to Tibet is restricted. Foreigners must obtain special permits and travel in tour groups to visit, and foreign reporters living in China are not allowed into the Himalayan region without special permission.

After the outburst of violence in Lhasa, the government stopped issuing permits, citing safety concerns. State media said Tibet would be re-opened to foreign travellers from May 1.

"But according to reliable reports it seems that re-opening may now not be until after the Olympics," the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region was trying its best to restore normalcy and said the current restrictions "were a special arrangement for a special period".

The Tibetan anti-Beijing protests and Chinese crackdown have fuelled vigorous demonstrations along the Olympic torch relay route through London, Paris and San Francisco. China will attempt to take the flame to the top of Mt. Everest in May and also plans to bring it through other parts of Tibet in June.

In 2006, tourism netted the Tibet Autonomous Region $17.5 million, according to Chinese media. (Writing by John Ruwitch, additional reporting by Guo Shipeng and Sally Huang; Editing by Ken Wills and Sanjeev Miglani)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  China's Amity Foundation sheds light on environmental situation
CWS

•  Direct Relief International Recognizes World TB Day 2008
DRI - USA

•  China: World Vision assists remote mountain villages in Yunnan
World Vision - Asia Pacific

•  New funding opportunities for civil society to tackle HIV
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  ACT Appeal: Assistance to Snow & Frost Affected, China
ACT - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

•  China won't re-open Tibet till after Olympics -group

•  Tibetan government in exile condemns torch protests

•  Tibetan government in exile condemns torch protests

•  Indonesia says to scale down route of Olympic torch

•  China condemns Olympic torch relay disruptions

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
China won't re-open Tibet till after Olympics -group (1 minute ago)

Tibetan government in exile condemns torch protests (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
TIPSHEET: What will climate change do to our health? (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
China's Amity Foundation sheds light on environmental situation (1 minute ago)

Blogs
HIV threat looms over China's evolution (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: Global flood locations week ending March 27 ,2008 (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
China

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-10T041712Z_01_PEK02_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-ROAD_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-10T032744Z_01_PEK01_RTRIDSP_2_CHINA-STORM_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-09T193146Z_01_SFO04_RTRIDSP_2_OLYMPICS-TORCH-USA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SFO04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-09T192947Z_01_SFO06_RTRIDSP_2_OLYMPICS-TORCH-USA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SFO06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-04-09T180322Z_01_SFO03_RTRIDSP_2_OLYMPICS-TORCH-USA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SFO03.htm

A driver receives medical treatment inside a truck wreck following a accident on a highway in Hefei, Anhui province April 10, 2008. China recorded 5.1 road accident deaths for every 10,000 ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Thu Apr 10 08:36:53 2008