CHINA: China’s To Slap Visa Restrictions On Certain US Nationals.

Beijing is considering tightening visa restrictions for US nationals with ties to anti-China groups.

The move comes in response to new US visa restrictions on high-ranking Chinese government officials that were announced by Washington on Tuesday, as well as the US’ tighter rules for visas for Chinese scholars, introduced in May.

This is not something we want to do but we don’t seem to have any choice, referring to China’s decision to slap visa restrictions on certain US nationals.

According to the source, a visa blacklist includes employees from a host of US military and CIA-linked institutions and rights groups, which were allegedly used by Washington to incite anti-government protests in both mainland China and Hong Kong.

The plan has been widely discussed by senior police officers over recent months, but was made more likely to be implemented after the Hong Kong protests and the US visa ban on Chinese officials, the source said.

China’s National Immigration Administration, which operates under the Ministry of Public Security, has yet to comment on the matter.

On Wednesday, Beijing lashed out at the grim plans of the United States following the visa restrictions announced by Washington against Chinese officials over allegations of human rights violations in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.

The attitude of the United States regarding the situation in Xinjiang will only further expose their sinister designs against the Chinese people and the international community, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington, in turn, protested the US move, which seriously violates the basic norms governing international relations, interferes in China's internal affairs and undermines China's interests.

China deplores and firmly opposes that, an embassy spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that Xinjiang does not have the so-called human rights issue claimed by the US, and suggested that the accusations by the US side are merely made-up pretexts for its interference.

The remarks follow US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement on Tuesday that Washington had imposed the visa restrictions on Chinese government and Communist Party officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the detention or abuse of Uighurs, Kazakhs, or other members of Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.

The August 2018 UN report claimed that up to one million ethnic Uyghurs were being held in the so-called re-education camps.

Beijing denied the existence of such camps, insisting that the claims have not been substantiated and arguing that the facilities are vocational colleges set up as part of counter-terrorist efforts in the region.

The US and China’s tit-for-tat visa restriction moves come as the two countries remain embroiled in a trade spat which began in mid-2018, when President Trump announced tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports to help address a $400 billion+ trade deficit that he claimed was caused by China’s unfair trade practices.

Since then, Washington and Beijing have exchanges hefty tariffs against each other.

Tourism Observer

CHINA: Hainan Airlines To Surrender Its Stake In Urumqi Air

Hainan Airlines, a carrier affiliated with conglomerate HNA Group, is planning to withdraw its holdings from low-cost airline Urumqi Air but retain management rights.

Hainan Airlines has reached an agreement with the Urumqi municipal government, that it will transfer its holdings of Urumqi Air to the latter.

After the transaction, the government or its designated subsidiaries will hold 70% of Urumqi Air’s shares, while HNA Holdings will hold 30%.

According to the agreement, the board of directors of Urumqi Airlines will be adjusted based on the shareholding ratio.

The chairman of the board of directors will be recommended by the government or its designated subsidiaries, while the general manager will be recommended by Hainan Airlines.

Under the leadership of the board of directors, the professional team of Haihang Holdings is responsible for the safety, production and operation management of Urumqi Air.

Urumqi Air is a low-cost airline headquartered in Urumqi, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It operates scheduled passenger services. Its main hub is Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi.

The airline is one of the four founding members of the U-FLY Alliance.

Urumqi Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:

- Boeing 737-800: 16 Aircraft

- Embraer 190: 1 Aircraft

- Total: 17 Aircraft


Tourism Observer

THAILAND: Bomb Suspect Arrested

Police officers joke with a key suspect in last month's Bangkok bombing, yellow shirt, identified by Thai police as Yusufu Mierili, also as Yusufu Mieraili, traveling on a Chinese passport, but his nationality remains unconfirmed, around a central Bangkok shopping center during a reenactment for the Aug. 17 bombing at Bangkok's popular Erawan Shrine that left 20 people dead and more than 120 injured.

Police said Wednesday a key suspect in last month's deadly Bangkok blast has admitted he handed a backpack containing a bomb to a man in a yellow shirt who was later seen leaving a similar bag at a downtown shrine just before the blast occurred.

The account offered the first possible reconstruction of events leading to the Aug. 17 attack at Erawan Shrine, an unprecedented act of violence in the Thai capital that left 20 people dead and more than 120 injured. Authorities say they still don't know the motive but are also reluctant to call the blast an act of terrorism, which would harm Thailand's image as a tourist destination.

After an initial slow start, police have arrested two foreigners, raided two apartments on the outskirts of Bangkok where they confiscated bomb-making materials, and say they are looking for 10 other suspects. Several Turkish and Chinese links to the blast have boosted a theory that the bombing was to avenge Thailand's forced repatriation of more than 100 ethnic Uighurs to China in July. Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs) are related to Turks, and Turkey is home to a large Uighur community.

The Erawan Shrine is especially popular with Chinese tourists, feeding the idea that it could be a target for people who believe the Uighurs are oppressed by China's government.

One of the men in custody, identified as Yusufu Mierili, was arrested Sept. 1 near the Thai-Cambodia border carrying a Chinese passport and has confessed to playing a key role in the attack, police said. The passport indicated he was from China's western region of Xinjiang, home to the Turkic-speaking Uighurs. His DNA and fingerprints were found in the two apartments police raided, including on a container of gunpowder in one of the apartments.

On Tuesday, police took Mierili back to the apartments and also to a chemical supply shop where he said he bought "four substances" used to make the bomb, national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said Wednesday. He declined to say what the materials were or if Mierili is believed to have made the bomb himself. He said the shop owner remembered Mierili as a customer.

A second day of re-enactments continued Wednesday, when police and armed commandoes led Mierili in handcuffs and body armor to Bangkok's main train station and then to the site of the blast at Erawan Shrine, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) away.

Public reenactments in front of the media are a common part of Thai criminal investigations, although they have been criticized for implying a suspect's guilt before a trial.

Prawut described Mierili as "cooperative," and during Wednesday's reenactment he could be seen pointing things out to police and at times laughing with them. The laughter occurred for just a brief period and reporters were kept too far away to hear what prompted it.

Mierili told police that on the day of the attack, he picked up the backpack from one of the apartments in the Bangkok district of Nong Chok and then took a three-wheeled tuk-tuk taxi to Hua Lamphong train station, Prawut said.

"Yusufu said the backpack that he carried was heavy and it was a bomb," Prawut said.

The suspect said he received instructions from "someone" on WhatsApp, a cellphone messaging application, telling him to deposit the backpack at a bench outside the station and wait for another person who would pick it up and leave him another backpack in return, Prawut said.

"This place is where he met with the yellow-shirt man to exchange backpacks," Prawut told reporters outside the station. He said Mierili told police he "picked up the backpack that the yellow-shirted man left for him, and walked away."

The yellow-shirted man is believed to be the bomber, and police say they think he fled the country. He was seen in surveillance camera video placing a large, black backpack at the shrine and leaving minutes before the blast occurred.

After the train station hand-off the two men went their separate ways to Erawan Shrine, where Mierili said he was told to take pictures during the blast, Prawut said.

He said Mierili showed police Wednesday where he stood to watch the explosion — in a plaza in front of Central World, a popular shopping mall.

Mierili — who police have also identified as Yusufu Mieraili — faces charges of conspiracy to possess unauthorized explosives.

Another suspect, who was arrested Aug. 29 at one of the two apartments, possessed a fake Turkish passport when he was detained, police say. They have identified him as Adem Karadak.

Police have said much of the attack remains a mystery to them and have asked for patience, saying the investigation is complicated.

"This is a very difficult case," Prawut said Wednesday. "We don't know who they are, we don't know what nationality. Even when Thais commit crimes sometimes we can't find them. Give us some time."