PH to appease China in bid to lift travel ban

DFA Assistant Secretary and spokesman Charles Jose. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Despite the maritime dispute between Philippines and China that has soured relations, the government is working hard to appease China’s security concerns so it will lift the travel advisory against Manila that has severely hit the tourism industry.

“Internally, we already had several inter-agency meetings and we are trying to map out concrete steps that we could take to basically convince China that we are taking measures and that we are guaranteeing and ensuring the safety and protection of their nationals,” DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Charles Jose told reporters in a briefing Monday.

Asked to elaborate on what the steps were, Jose declined to say more and simply said that they will be making announcements “in due course as things develop.”

“Right now we can’t say until these things have actually happened,” he added.

Last September 12, 2014, China urged its nationals to avoid traveling to the Philippines after several incidents of kidnapping and threats of attack against Chinese businesses and diplomatic posts.

“Given that the safety situation in the Philippines is deteriorating, the consular service of the foreign ministry is asking Chinese nationals not to travel to the Philippines for the time being,” China’s security advisory posted on their Ministry of Foreign Affairs website said.

The Philippine tourism industry has suffered losses from canceled flight bookings as well as hotel reservations because of the advisory.

Around P500-million worth of hotel reservations in Boracay Island was lost when 20,000 Chinese tourists canceled their bookings while Cebu Pacific had canceled 149 flights to and from China because of the sudden drop in demand.

China is the third largest tourist market of the Philippines following South Korea and the United States.

“We would like to show them that we are taking concrete measures and steps in addressing their security concerns,” Jose said.

Philippines and China are locked in a dispute over which has maritime jurisdiction of South China Sea.

China claims the entire South China Sea through its nine-dash line claim including portions of the Philippines 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone that covers the Spratly Islands west of Palawan and Scarborough shoal.

The travel advisory is widely perceived as China’s move to exert economic pressure on the Philippines so that it will withdraw its arbitration case before a United Nations court.

The case challenges the validity of China’s nine-dash line claim, which it says is based on “historical facts.” China has refused to participate in the proceedings insisting on its “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea.

RELATED STORIES

China travel warning hits PH tourism industry

China issues travel ban vs PH after teener’s kidnap