Britain Kowtowing to China

In its rush to lure Chinese investment and tourism, the U.K. overlooks human rights and regulatory concerns.
By Yuan Ren

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (second from left) and London Mayor Boris Johnson (second from right) are accompanied by two students on a tour of Peking University.

Last year, London Mayor Boris Johnson heralded the just-completed London 2012 Summer Olympic Games as a triumph for the city and a magnet for tourism and foreign investment.
But this open invitation, apparently, didn’t extend to China.
Two months prior to the Games, the British Ambassador in Beijing, Sebastian Wood, labeled the U.K. “a fortress” to potential Chinese visitors.
This year, the UN World Tourism organization marked Chinese tourists as the single biggest source of income in global tourism: As a group, they spent $102 billion overseas in 2012, more than 30 percent more than visitors from other countries.
But while a single Schengen visa enables tourists to gain entry into most countries in the EU, the U.K. requires a separate visa that costs almost twice as much.
This, Wood argued, deterred wealthy Chinese tourists from visiting the country, and caused the U.K. to lose significant revenue to European neighbors such as France and Germany.
Last month, in an effort to undo the image of this “British fortress” and smooth ruffled feelings over Prime Minister David Cameron’s 2012 meeting with the Dalai Lama, London sent a small delegation on a five-day mission to China.
Among the delegates were London Mayor Boris Johnson and the U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, whose visit began in Beijing on October 14.
In clear contrast to previous high-level trade visits to China, both men steered clear of political controversy, as Mayor Johnson sidestepped human rights questions while Osborne confirmed that “the prime minister is not planning to meet the Dalai Lama.”
Instead, the visit focused exclusively on trade, with both sides expressing hope that the prime minister may visit China later this year.
A key component of the British visit was easing visa regulations for Chinese visitors.
At Peking University, Osborne announced the launch of a 24-hour “super priority” service that would fast-track visas for Chinese business leaders traveling to the U.K. as well as a separate process that would allow certain Chinese travel agents to apply for U.K. visas using the same application as for the Schengen.
Johnson also mentioned the huge income derived from Britain’s 130,000-strong Chinese student population, noting that “London has more Chinese students than any other city on earth, outside China.”
Reminding the audience that Harry Potter’s girlfriend was also a Chinese student, he added: “Let me make this clear to you and to the whole of China: There is no limit to the number of Chinese who can study in Britain.”
The statement, given recent events, was striking: Last year the U.K. announced a policy to reduce annual net immigration from outside the EU, shortening the length of stay for overseas students.
And while previous visas offered students the right to seek employment in the U.K. for two years, now only those who graduate with job offers can stay.
Why, then, is the U.K. suddenly reversing course with China?

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China has made significant investments in British industry and infrastructure.
These include shares in London’s water supply as well as a project to expand Heathrow Airport, the latter worth £800 million ($1.28 billion) and expected to create 16,000 jobs.
To further promote trade, the two countries struck a deal allowing direct trading between their respective currencies, based on an 80 billion yuan ($12.7 billion) quota for London-based firms to invest in China.
The U.K. is now the only foreign country to manage China’s tightly controlled currency.
The U.K. has even eased regulations for Chinese banks to set up branches in London, relaxing rules brought in as a result of the financial crisis that required most foreign banks to set up “subsidiaries” that operate under tighter controls of the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA).
Such “counterproductive” measures, as one journalist called them in the South Morning China Post, reportedly pushed several Chinese banks to switch operations to Luxembourg.
While many in the banking industry saw the news as undermining the PRA’s independence, others, such as TheCityUK, an independent membership body promoting financial services, “strongly welcomed” the announcements, which it saw as “potentially increasing funding for U.K. infrastructure and investment in other sectors.”
Even more contentious is China’s foray into Britain’s nuclear power industry.
During his visit George Osborne announced that Chinese state-owned companies would take a minority share in the controversial Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in southwest England, the first to be constructed in the U.K in 20 years.
As is the current government’s policy on new nuclear projects, the station will be completely privately funded, led by the French government-owned company EDF Energy.
Osborne also revealed a longer-term plan for the Chinese to become “majority owners” in future power stations built in the U.K., which he said will be paid for with “Chinese money,” to ensure “lower energy bills for families in Britain.”
While some, like Ed Davey, the U.K. Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change called China’s support “vital” to the country’s energy prospects, others, like Isabel Hilton, Editor of China Dialogue, have questioned whether Britain is just a pawn in China becoming “the world's next big nuclear exporter.”
Questions over safety risks for Britain also point to China’s record on corruption and weak regulatory frameworks. 
John Large, the U.K. government’s advisor on nuclear energy, raised concerns that China is “rooted in a government system without independent [safety] regulators.”
But such anxieties were dismissed by the Chancellor, who emphasized during his visit that the Chinese role in nuclear projects will be “subject to British safety rules leased by the British,” and that China is “a very straightforward and transparent partner.”
But is this realistic?
Last month, the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International placed China at the bottom of the BRICS club of emerging markets for being the least open and most prone to corruption. 
Of the 11 companies given “0” ratings for transparency, nine were from China, including Huawei Technologies, a private firm that has been entangled in allegations of spying for the Chinese government. Huawei plans to invest $200 million in building a research and development center in the U.K., as announced by George Osborne during his visit to its headquarters in Shenzhen.
Does China’s increasing stake in U.K. businesses and industry presents tangible risks for the U.K.?
While countries like the U.S. have barred Huawei from its telecoms industry over security concerns, the U.K. has continued to allow Huawei to integrate its technology into British telecommunications systems, even though the U.K. Parliament's security watchdog warned in June this year that the company’s alleged links to the Communist Party were “concerning” and questioned whether “Huawei’s intentions are strictly commercial or are more political.”
This latest trip in China, labeled by some as “China mania,” has led some observers of the Sino-British relationship to warn that London was kowtowing to the Chinese by making an unprecedented number of compromises.
Will Hutton, writing in the Guardian, called Osborne and Johnson “wide-eyed and innocent” for making “one-sided economic concessions.”
In spite of these concerns, Johnson and Osborne’s delegation insists that Britain’s economic development takes priority.
But while David Cameron’s last visit to China in 2011 emphasized that “a dialogue covering human rights” was a key part of how “[the China-UK] relationship should work,” the absence of such conversations in the latest trip indicates that the U.K. is giving up its moral high ground for closer economic ties with China, as France and Germany have done.
In contrast to the U.K. media frenzy, the Johnson-Osborne trip elicited less sentiment on the Chinese side, where reporting has been more positive.
According to writer Jonathan Fenby, China’s coverage highlights the U.K. as “just one of many” business opportunities for China and “far from a leading destination for Chinese investment,” lagging behind the likes of Germany, with its $200 billion dollars worth of investment.
While the success of the Sino-British trade relationship hinges on a balance of political tact and strict regulatory checks with strong accountability, the U.K. government’s latest move signals the end to British integrity. 
Jonathan Mirsky, a former East Asia editor of the Times writing in the New York Review of Books, sees the new relationship as a sell-out, on what he calls “precisely the things that have made Britain great: freedom, democracy and above all, speaking truth to power.”

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Tibetans Call China’s Policies at Tourist Spot Stifling

   

By DAN LEVIN

 XIAHE, China — Buddhist monks in flowing burgundy robes hurried along the dirt paths of the Labrang Monastery, trying their best to ignore the scrum of Chinese tourists following their every move, many with cameras fit for paparazzi.
Pilgrims and those less spiritually inclined wandered through the ornate complex here in the mountain town of Xiahe to gaze upon towering Buddha statues bathed in incense.
Some tourists held back to indulge in distinctly unenlightened pursuits, smoking cigarettes and pouting at smartphones in the high-tech vanity ritual known as the selfie.

A Tibetan monk and pilgrims in prayer at a Buddhist temple near the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe.
Chinese tourists on the Qinghai grasslands near Xiahe.
Tourists watch Tibetan monks emerging from a hall at Labrang Monastery.

One of the most important sites in Tibetan Buddhism, Labrang presents an idyllic picture of sacred devotion that is carefully curated by the Chinese government, which hopes to convince visitors that Tibetan religion and culture are swaddled in the Communist Party’s benevolent embrace.
But behind closed doors, many of the monastery’s resident monks complain about intrusive government policies, invisible to tourists, that they say are strangling their culture and identity.
“Even if we’re just praying, the government treats us as criminals,” said a young monk, who like others interviewed recently spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid government repercussions.
Such frustrations, many monks say, are what have driven more than 120 Tibetans to set fire to themselves since 2009, including 13 in the Labrang area, in a wave of protests that has gone largely unreported in Chinese news media.
International human rights advocates say that rather than address the underlying grievances — including Beijing’s deeply unpopular campaign to demonize the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader — Chinese authorities have responded with even harsher policies that punish the relatives of those who self-immolate and imprison those who disseminate news of the protests to the outside world.
Exile groups and analysts say Labrang and a handful of other monasteries across the vast Tibetan plateau in Central Asia have become showcases for Beijing’s strategy, which seeks to stifle dissent in well-trafficked tourist sites without scaring away visitors.
Monks here describe a largely unseen web of controls that keep potential troublemakers in line: ubiquitous surveillance cameras, paid informers and plainclothes security agents who mingle among the busloads of tourists.
Hidden from the throngs are the political education sessions during which monks are forced to denounce the Dalai Lama.
Stiff jail sentences await those who step out of line.
“If we don’t obey, it will be terrible for us,” the monk said.
Founded in the early 18th century, the Labrang Monastery is tucked into the dusky hills of northwestern Gansu Province.
Each day, hundreds of Chinese tourists arrive to spin colorful prayer wheels lining the monastery perimeter and sip tea at hotels designed to resemble Tibetan nomadic tents.
Along the town’s main street, they buy turquoise-encrusted amulets, dress up in monks’ robes and take turns trying on the ceremonial yellow hats that resemble mohawk-style haircuts.
Officials hope that a recently completed airport will draw even bigger crowds.
In a monastery courtyard surrounded by whitewashed mud walls, a Chinese family from the provincial capital, Lanzhou, knelt down to pray to Buddha.
“If you ask nicely, he’ll make your wish come true,” said the mother, Ming Yang, who acknowledged that her understanding of Buddhism ended there.
With an eye on the lucrative prestige of a Unesco World Heritage listing, the central government is giving the monastery a $26 million face-lift.
Around 1,000 monks and 65,000 volumes of Buddhist scripture are housed in the sprawling complex, which local officials say is in dire need of structural improvements.
Yet locals complain that much of the construction is aimed at increasing tourism, rather than benefiting Tibetans.
“It looks fancy, but in reality all the improvements are for Chinese people,” one said.
Tourism is rapidly reshaping much of the Tibetan plateau.
According to the Xinhua state news agency, six million tourists visited Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, in the first eight months of this year, a 20 percent increase over the same period in 2012.
The boom has attracted several international hotel chains to the city, which is under de facto martial law.
In May, Tibetan exile groups started a boycott campaign against the InterContinental Hotels Group, which is building a 2,000-room luxury resort next to the historic residence once occupied by the Dalai Lama.
In the wake of violent anti-Chinese protests that swept Tibet in 2008 and the wave of self-immolations that followed, security forces have tightened their grip.
The crackdown reaches deep into the folds of Tibetan spirituality.
According to the International Campaign for Tibet, officials have posted notices in Tibetan areas declaring it illegal to pray for self-immolators or to show solidarity “by burning incense, chanting religious scriptures, releasing animals from killing and lighting candles.”
At least two monks have been jailed for praying on behalf of self-immolators, the group said.
Exile groups say such tactics only alienate Tibetans further.
“Even lighting a butter lamp or incense stick becomes an act against the state,” Kate Saunders, communications director for the organization, said from London.
Yet local enforcement has been erratic.
Nowhere is this more clear than at Labrang, where a framed photo of the Dalai Lama sits on an altar beside a large golden Buddha.
For years, the government has banned photos of the Dalai Lama and forbidden Tibetans to worship him as a religious figure.
Monks at Labrang said they believed that local officials had decided to quietly tolerate such photos in an effort to head off further unrest.
On the tour, few of the Chinese day-trippers seemed to recognize the older, bespectacled man Beijing has called “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
The monk guiding the group made no mention of his identity, lest it threaten the ticket sales and donations needed to cover operating costs.
But being the main attraction on a Buddhist safari has spiritual drawbacks.
“Chinese tourists just barge in when we’re studying,” a middle-aged monk said as he fingered a set of prayer beads.
“It knocks on our minds, but they don’t care.”
Such complaints appear to be falling on deaf ears.
During a tour of the region in July, China’s top official in charge of ethnic minorities, Yu Zhengsheng, insisted that economic development was the panacea for what ailed Tibetans.
In the same breath, he condemned the Dalai Lama’s “middle way,” which calls for genuine autonomy in Tibet but not independence, saying it conflicts with China’s political system.
“Only when people’s lives have been improved can they be better united with the Chinese Communist Party and become a reliable basis for maintaining stability,” he said, according to Xinhua.
But local Tibetans seethe at China’s refusal to recognize their most basic aspirations.
“Our hope is that the Dalai Lama can return,” said a monk, looking out for eavesdroppers while sitting at a cafe.
“Without him, there is no chance our religion and culture will survive.”

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Beautiful China tourism pitch misfires amid smog

"When you have all the stories about the pollution, and the air pollution in particular, people are not going to buy the myth that China is beautiful." -- Tourism expert

The Associated Press

What a wonderful world

Forget all the headlines about eye-watering pollution in Beijing and Shanghai -- the Middle Kingdom's latest tourism slogan invites visitors to "Beautiful China."
Adorning buses and trains in cities such as London, the international marketing effort has been derided as particularly inept at a time when record-busting smog has drawn attention to the environmental and health costs of China's unfettered industrialization.
Like this year's typically clunky theme for visitors "China Ocean Tourism Year," the slogan highlights the tin ear of an industry that has ridden the coattails of China's rapid economic growth and increased global prominence but failed to keep up with international travel trends.
"Beauty can be looked at in many different ways, but when you have all the stories about the pollution, and the air pollution in particular, people are not going to buy the fact that China is 100 percent beautiful," said Alastair Morrison, a Beijing-based expert in tourism destination marketing and development.
China's tourism industry has grown at a fast pace since the country began free market-style economic reforms three decades ago. 

In 2011, travel and tourism generated $644 billion, or more than 9 percent of China's GDP, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, mostly propelled by its huge domestic market of 1.1 billion people.
China is also the world's third most visited country after France and the U.S.

Despite that status, the numbers are less significant economically than domestic tourism. 

On top of that, the growth in foreign tourists has lagged world averages.
According to the World Tourism Organization, whose data is based on national sources, the average growth rate in overnight visitors worldwide was 2.8 percent from 2008 to 2012. 

The average growth rate in China was 2.1 percent.
And in the first nine months of this year, a period during which China's image as a destination has been tainted by worsening air pollution and unprecedented coverage of it, foreign overnight visitors dropped 7 percent to 15 million people.
"For a destination like China, which is a large country that many foreigners have not been to, and with the interest in China, you would expect above average growth rates," said Morrison. 

"You have to question what's going on."
Some point to unsophisticated marketing as an explanation.
Whereas tourism offices all over the world use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, Chinese tourism authorities stick with what they know: trade shows and magazine advertising.
They are fond of using wordy theme years to promote China, having used one annually since its "Friendly Sightseeing Year" of 1992. 

The busy looking website of the national tourism body has been likened to a company newsletter.
"Most government tourism administrations in China prefer the traditional way of promotion to attract foreigners, such as holding promotions in targeted places overseas," said Wang Sheng, assistant general manager at D & J Global Communications. 

"But this practice has one major shortcoming in that they are still not close enough to the potential individual customer."
Some local tourism authorities recognize the problem and are leading the way in changing their strategy to attract foreign tourists, particularly those from Europe and North America.
The tourism authority in Shandong province, home of Confucius' birthplace and Tsingtao beer, has enlisted Google Inc. to act as a digital consultant to improve its advertising reach. 

Google helped them set up a channel on YouTube and increase their adverts' visibility alongside search results and on its partner websites.

It also suggests advertising ideas and online designs.
Sun Shue, director of the international tourism marketing department at Shandong Tourism Administration, said they were working with Google to target primarily the European and American markets to make their inbound tourism market more balanced.
Nearly half of inbound tourists to Shandong on the eastern coast come from regional neighbors Japan and South Korea, with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia also providing many visitors, she said. 

European visitors are currently few in number and this structure is "not conducive to long-term stable growth," she said.
Hangzhou city's tourism office has a Facebook page and a website in several languages including English and German. 

The city's marketing and the image of Hangzhou's scenic West Lake has extended to dozens of buses and taxis in four European capitals and Tokyo and Seoul. 

This year, Hangzhou city has mainly targeted Britain, France, Germany and the United States and says it works with local PR companies to promote its brand.
Other problems in the industry are organizational.
Tour operators abroad complain that instead of cooperating with them to draw up cultural, historical and other themed itineraries, which is customary in the global industry, Chinese tourism authorities prefer to market directly to foreigners through travel magazines and other media.
Terry Dale, president and CEO of the United States Tour Operators Association, said it was a "cumbersome process" dealing with Chinese tourism authorities.
The national tourism body unveiled its new logo and tagline "Beautiful China" in February -- a square blue logo with "Beautiful China" written in English and Chinese. 

It is competing with South Korea's use of "Gangnam Style" star Psy as the face of its tourism adverts abroad, and is expected to be discussed at this week's China International Travel Mart in south China, one of the country's most influential travel industry events. 

The China National Tourism Administration declined to be interviewed.
On a recent day, tourists on a hill overlooking the Forbidden City imperial palace in Beijing said they thought the slogan could have been more sophisticated.
"Well indeed China is beautiful, that's what we have seen for the last few days, yet I find it a little bit general because there have been a lot of beautiful places we have been to," said backpacker Maciek Pielok, 26, from Naleczow in Poland.
"I guess that you could even call it Epic China or the oldest country in the world, something like that."

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