China has barred foreigners from travelling to Tibet until after October 1 celebrations marking the 60th birthday of communist China.
A staffer at the official Lhasa Tourism Bureau said the ban would officially go into effect on Thursday. “Passes for foreign travellers to enter Tibet will be suspended from September 24 to October 8 and that is according to a notice from the Tibet Tourism Bureau,” said the officer. The notice contained no information and no reason for the measure. Officials with the regional government refused to comment. However, travel agents said the ban was already in place. “It started from Monday and passes for foreign travellers are suspended until October 8,” said a staff at the Tibet Youth Travel Service.
The move is the latest sign of intense official concern over security ahead of National Day, which will mark 60 years since Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of People’s Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The government already has sharply ramped up security in the capital, putting thousands of extra police on the streets ahead of the festivities, which will include a military parade, fireworks and mass performances at square. State media reported that outgoing flights would be halted at Beijing’s airport during the parade, and retailers have said they have been banned from selling kitchen knives after two recent stabbings near the square.
Foreign tourists must obtain special permission from China’s government to enter Tibet, the remote Himalayan region where resentment against Chinese control has seethed for decades. China has previously banned foreign tourists from visiting Tibet, including after deadly anti-Chinese riots that erupted in Lhasa and across the Tibetan plateau in March 2008, triggering a massive Chinese security clampdown.