The Portrait of a Fearful "Olympic Host" -- China limiting visas to
pre-Olympics visitors

-- Micky's humble opinion : This is yet another glaring example of
Chinese stupidity. The greatest danger threatens Chinese government is
China's thuggish rulers themselves. --

China limiting visas to pre-Olympics visitors

The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

HONG KONG: China has stopped issuing multiple-entry visas to foreigners
and has slowed visa processing in Hong Kong, a major gateway for travel
to the mainland, in restrictions that will remain in place until after
the Olympics, travel agents here said Tuesday.

The restrictions came amid criticism of China's human rights record
after its recent crackdown on anti-government riots in Tibet. Protesters
disrupted the Olympic torch relays in Paris and London this week.

Luk Tak, a travel agent, said the authorities were now only issuing
single- or double-entry visas to foreigners in Hong Kong, scaling back a
program that issued multiple-entry business visas that lasted up to
three years.

An official at another travel agency, who declined to be named because
of the sensitivity of the issue, said the best visa his agency could now
obtain was a double-entry visa valid for three months.

He said China also had suspended one-day travel visas to the mainland
city of Shenzhen, a popular shopping destination near Hong Kong.

Forever Bright Trading, a travel agency in Hong Kong, said on its Web
site that multiple-entry visas had been suspended from March 28 until
Oct. 17. The Beijing Olympics are scheduled to take place from Aug. 8 to 24.

But in Beijing, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, Jiang Yu, denied
there had been any change in policy. "China's visa policy is formulated
according to China's laws and regulations and in line with international
practices," Jiang said. "I have checked this information and China did
not stop granting multiple entry visas to foreign visitors."

But Luk said fewer Chinese visa offices were handling visas.

He said that his agency used to submit applications to visa offices at
the Foreign Ministry's bureaus in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and another nearby
Chinese city, Zhuhai, but that only the Hong Kong office was now
accepting applications. As a result, visa processing times have slowed
from same-day to next-day turnaround, Luk said.

The executive director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong,
Andrew Work, said the visa restrictions were affecting members of the
chamber who travel frequently to the mainland on business. "We've got a
lot of members who travel on short notice. Somebody says, 'I need you to
go close a deal here,' " he said.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 but
has retained separate political and economic systems. It allows citizens
of major Western countries visa-free access, so foreigners often use the
city as a base to travel to mainland China.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry's office in Hong Kong did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.

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