Chinese hi-tech researchers have been told “not to travel to the U.S. unless it’s essential.” According to a report last week in the South China Morning Post, the newspaper cited a source indicating that staff for research agencies have also been warned to clear their mobile phones and laptops of sensitive information if they have to go to the U.S.
These actions were announced following the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies. Meng was taken into custody in Vancouver, Canada, on Dec. 1, at the request of the U.S. She faces extradition to the United States, where she is accused of helping Huawei, a major electronics manufacturer, evade American sanctions on Iran.
China’s foreign ministry has already summoned the U.S. and Canadian ambassadors to China to protest the arrest of Meng.
The arrest shows that, despite the agreement between world’s two biggest economies for a 90-day truce in the trade war between them, tensions between Beijing and Washington have continued to escalate over technology and security … and, as result, tourism.
“China is likely to have a travel ban.” The Chinese protest, as well as the warning to hi-tech Chinese researchers about travel to the U.S. seemed to be a possibility as far back as last April when Yiling Pan, associate editor of Jing Travel—a publication that covers trends among Chinese travelers, especially luxury travelers—told delegates to NAJ’s RTO Summit East in New York that “if it keeps up, China is likely to have a travel ban on the United States.”
“Imminent Cooldown” Seen for Chinese Market: At about the same time as that China warned hi-tech researches about visiting the United States, Jing Travel told its readers, “There’s an undeniable slowdown across the entire Chinese travel market right now, with travel-related retailers and destinations both struggling. Even executives at China’s biggest online travel agency Ctrip.com International have signaled that they expect an ‘imminent cooldown’ in the market. Right now, the slump mostly has to do with anxiety surrounding economic fears, but the numbers are not looking good for a lot of Chinese travel industry players.” Read the whole article here.
