China is reassuring the world that foreign travelers are safe in the country. No drama, no maybes, just a simple statement of “we will protect you to the extent of our laws.”
The funny part is that a calming statement comes after “a wave of travel chaos” to Japan and China, which sounded like a really badly timed plot twist.
When the dominos had already fallen
Long before Beijing’s calming announcement, Japan has already warned its own citizens of exercising caution while in China.
Chinese officials were quick to respond – polite tone, sharp energy. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, and I’m paraphrasing, “We have always protected foreigners and will continue to do so.” Pretty neat, tidy answer in the face of a very messy situation.
Let’s rewind to November 7. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dropped a political bomb on the floor of parliament when she simply put it on the record that Japan might take military action if China attacked Taiwan.
And China? Bewildered and [extremely] angry.
To China, Taiwan is part of its territory, so Takaichi’s comments assumed a feeling of actual interference with China’s internal affairs. The temperature level of diplomatic relations immediately turned from warm to pressure cooker.
Tourism Turmoil: Refunds Were Hitting the Button
After China issued a travel advisory to its citizens discouraging travel to Japan, the chaos unfolded quickly:
- Nearly 500,000 Chinese tourists canceled their trips to Japan.
- Chinese airlines began offering full refunds, or free rebooking at the very least.
- A major travel agent in Beijing canceled all tours to Japan; group, private, everything, it all stopped.
- Visa services were halted
- The website took down all deals related to travel to Japan as if Japan had never existed.
In Japan:
- Isetan Mitsukoshi shares dropped.
- Oriental Land (the company that owns Tokyo Disneyland) shares fell.
- Japan Airline’s shares declined.
All because one sentence was said in a parliament meeting.
Back to China’s Statement Calm Down Because We Are Looping the Timeline Again
While half a million people were clicking “cancel trip,” China then stepped in with a calm statement:
Foreigners here are safe.
We will protect them.
It is quite the juxtaposition; Chinese tourists were afraid to travel to Japan, but China wanted foreigners to feel comfortable staying in China.
Diplomacy has its funny little quirks like that.
From traveling backward, forward, and diagonally through the timeline, we have arrived at the same moment in time we started with:
China promises foreign travelers to be at ease, while tensions with Japan stay boiling beneath the ice.
And just that, 500,000 trips canceled, markets went down, an agency went broke, and an international safety reassurance loop has started!
