17 April 2008
China cancels 01 May plan to reopen Tibet
(AFP) Beijing has abandoned plans to reopen Tibet to visitors on 01 May, a tourism official has told AFP. Asked whether the reopening for foreign and domestic tourists had been postponed, a Tibet Tourism Bureau official told AFP by phone: "Yes, because conditions are not ripe for it". The man, who refused to give his name but said he was director of the bureau's main office in Lhasa, said a new date had not been set. Tour organisers had been informed of the postponement, a tour operator in Chengdu who regularly arranges trips to Tibet told AFP. Chinese authorities had announced on 03 April that the region would be reopened to foreign and domestic tourists on 01 May, a national holiday in China.