Column

Acountry that is preparing to host a spectacular Olympics in August should be throwing open doors, rolling out the red carpet, and lining up brass-bands for visitors from overseas, right? Well, China is doing exactly the opposite.

Evidently unnerved by the uprising in Tibet, and the protests that have marred the relay of the Olympics torch, China has tightened visa procedures and imposed entry restrictions that, taken together, have the effect of slamming a door on visitors’ face ahead of the upcoming sporting spectacle.

For over a week now, China has stopped issuing fresh multiple-entry visas and suspended the short-stay visa-on-arrival facility. Even the “rush service” (under which tourist visas could be secured the same day) has been suspended.

Only single- or double-entry visas, valid for 30 days, are being issued; however, multiple-entry visas that have not expired will continue to be valid.

Last week, at Hong Kong’s land border with Shenzhen (in mainland China), I met a stream of people (Indians and other nationalities) who had turned up in the hope of securing a visa at the border, but had been turned away because of the new restrictions.
No official reason has been cited, but travel agents say the new restrictions will be in force until September, after the Olympics. Evidently, China is wary that the Olympics will be a magnet that attracts international armies of protest groups campaigning on a variety of China-specific issues.

To give credit where it’s due, however, even with the new restrictions, it will be a lot easier for an Indian passport-holder to secure a China visa than for a Chinese national to secure an India visa.

Many more Indians travel to China than vice-versa: indicatively, last year, nearly 5,00,000 Indians visited China, against only 70,000 Chinese who travelled the other way.

Perhaps to remedy that lopsided tourist flow, the first India Tourism Office was inaugurated in Beijing on Monday by Tourism Minister Ambika Soni, in the presence of Ambassador Nirupama Rao and China National Tourism Administration chairman Shao Qiwei.

And from all accounts, it was a glamourous evening. Actor Kabir Bedi was there, as was a 50-member Indian classical dance troupe headed by Leela Samson.

Ten master chefs prepared a lavish five-course dinner for the 500-plus glitterati in attendance. From Beijing, the Indian roadshow rolls along to Shanghai, where an Indian food festival at the Shanghai Renaissance Hotel will tempt more Chinese people to sample a taste of India.