China bans tourists from Tibet
The latest ban comes in advance of the highly sensitive 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, a key propaganda opportunity for the Chinese Communist Party. China is determined to choreograph the event tightly and to provide a misleading picture of normality and stability as well as widespread acceptance of Communist Party rule; the ban on travel to Tibet is to prevent foreigners witnessing any Tibetan protests against Chinese rule during the sensitive anniversary period.
AFP reported that the ban is officially in place from September 24 until October 8 although AFP had been told that the ban had actually been in place since Monday 21 September.
The ban reflects China’s continuing deep sense of insecurity in Tibet, despite its claims that normality has returned to Tibet following last year’s widespread protests against Chinese rule. Earlier this year China deployed thousands of additional troops into the region in advance of another sensitive anniversary – the 50th anniversary of Tibet’s 1959 Uprising in March. China has maintained its military lockdown since then, maintaining strict controls over movement and communication in and out of Tibet. Even before the latest ban on foreigners travelling to Tibet, tourists required special permission to travel there and were permitted only to travel in official organised groups to locations approved by the Chinese authorities.
In another sign of its determination to conceal its lockdown in Tibet from the world, China has maintained strict restrictions on journalists travelling to Tibet. China was forced to allow unprecedented freedoms to foreign journalists as a condition of its staging the 2008 Olympics. Such freedoms were denied journalists wishing to travel to Tibet and remain in place now, despite the new freedoms being continued elsewhere in China following the Games.
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Matt Whitticase, External Communications
t +44 (0)20 7324 4605 / +44 (0)7515 788456 and email: matt@freetibet.org
Stephanie Brigden, Director
t +44 (0)20 7324 4605 / +44 (0)7530 528264 and email: stephanie@freetibet.org
