Chinese cruise passengers call refusal to disembark in South Korea a protest over THAAD

Record ID: 443977

  • Title: Chinese cruise passengers call refusal to disembark in South Korea a protest over THAAD
  • Date: 14th March 2017
  • Summary: SHANGHAI, CHINA (MARCH 14, 2017) (REUTERS) CRUISE SHIP COSTA SERENA DOCKING AT SHANGHAI WUSONGKOU INTERNATIONAL CRUISE TERMINAL SIGN OF COSTA SERENA VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF COSTA SERENA SHUTTLE BUSES DRIVING TOWARDS TERMINAL RESGREEN GROUP EMPLOYEE, BAI LIYUN (RIGHT FRONT), PASSENGER ON CRUISE COSTA SERENA, BAI LIJUAN (FAR LEFT), AND OTHER PEOPLE DRAGGING LUGGAGE AND WALKIN
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2017 10:47
  • Keywords: China South Korea THAAD Jeju cruise disembark protest tourists
  • Location: SHANGHAI, CHINA / JEJU, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: SHANGHAI, CHINA / JEJU, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00167XL745
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:When the Costa Serena steamed into port at the South Korean tourist island of Jeju on Saturday (March 11) afternoon, passenger Bai Liyun stayed on board where crew had organised a magic show, games and even a wine tasting.
    She was not alone.
    Most of her Chinese shipmates, estimated by passengers to number more than 3,000, followed suit, in a show of solidarity with their government's vociferous opposition to South Korea's decision to deploy a controversial missile defence system.
    South Korean media reported tour guides and some 80 tour busses were left waiting at the port.
    On Tuesday (March 14), the hulking Costa Serena returned to Shanghai where Bai and the others disembarked, some proud of their moment in the geopolitical spotlight.
    Bai, an employee from the Chinese direct-sales company Resgreen Group, said her colleagues had sent around messages prior to the trip to propose that none of the more than 3,000 passengers set foot in South Korea. The company made the decision official before the cruise docked at Jeju, she said.
    The decision to boycott Jeju "was made on mutual consensus" among the cruisers, most of whom were Resgreen employees, company officials said.
    "It's a threat to Chinese. Actually it's an action that harms others without benefiting themselves. But they had already made this decision. As Chinese, we must be resolutely opposed (to this). We protested with this action," said Bai's cruising partner and relative Bai Lijuan, from the western province of Gansu.
    China has publicly opposed the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile system, saying its powerful radar is a threat to Chinese security. South Korea and the United States say it is aimed solely at defending the South against a growing North Korean missile threat.
    Beijing has, nevertheless, increased pressure on companies doing business with and in South Korea, although it has not directly said it was targeting South Korean firms in retaliation.
    The stakes are high for South Korea, and tourism is a particularly vulnerable sector. South Korean data show almost half of its visitors come from China.
    Tourism is a particularly sensitive sector, with official South Korean data showing almost half of the visitors to the country come from China.
    Last week, airlines including China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd and Spring Airlines Co Ltd stopped offering flights on their websites between the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo and Jeju.
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