29/09/2019
- New system to enable businesses and government agencies to verify mainland-issued travel permits
The new system is expected to expand access to the public transport system on the mainland. Photo: Roy Issa
Hong Kong and Macau residents and “overseas Chinese” may soon be able to have full access to public services on the mainland using their China-issued travel documents, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Xinhua reported on Wednesday that the National Immigration Administration was putting a platform in place to enable government agencies and businesses to verify mainland-issued travel permits for Hong Kong and Macau residents.
“As soon as the platform becomes operational, these overseas travellers can, from October, have access to 35 public services, ranging from transport, to finance, education, communications, medical care and accommodation,” the report said.
According to the report, “overseas travellers” cover Hong Kong and Macau residents and ethnic Chinese living overseas.
But it did not say why the new measures did not apply to people from Taiwan.
The administration did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
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The new measure appears to be part of a long-term strategy by Beijing to foster closer ties between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau.
In the last few years, the central government has launched a host of incentives for Hong Kong and Macau residents and businesses, including opportunities in the Greater Bay Area development plan in southern China.
Ivan Zhai, executive director of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China-Guangdong, welcomed the new measure.
“If such an arrangement can be fully implemented, Hong Kong businesspeople who operate on the mainland will be thrilled,” Zhai said.
The Hong Kong business community has long lobbied for relaxation over areas such as train ticketing and hotel registration.
Zhai said that although Hong Kong and Macau residents could now book high-speed train tickets with their mainland-issued travel permits, there were few ticket machines that could automatically read the permits, complicating the process.
“There are also hotels on the mainland that can only entertain guests with Chinese identity cards and currently Hong Kong travellers can only go to hotels that are authorised to accept the mainland-issued travel permits,” he said.
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According to the report, there will be stiff penalties for departments or businesses misusing information collected through the platform.
Zhai said Hong Kong businesspeople who travelled to the mainland often were more likely to be concerned about convenience than the risk of invasion of privacy.
“If you are a frequent traveller in China, you would have expected that the relevant departments of the Chinese government already have information about you anyway,” he said.
Source: SCMP
Posted in access, accommodation, automatically, businesses, China alert, China-Guangdong, chinese government, communications, currency conversion, departments, education, ethnic Chinese, expands, Finance, government agencies, Greater Bay Area, Greater Bay Area plan, high-speed train tickets, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, hotel registration, Macau, mainland, medical care, operational, Overseas Chinese, overseas travellers, penalties, platform, Public services, public transport system, residents, Shenzhen, Taiwan, ticket machines, train ticketing, Transport, travel documents, travel permits, travellers, Uncategorized, verify, Xinhua News Agency |
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05/07/2019
- Sichuan attraction was due to reopen for the summer but managers decided there was no point after it was stripped bare of its most celebrated feature
Visitors have been filmed breaking into the park in Sichuan to pick its lotus flowers. Photo: Red Star News
An ecological park in southwest China has been forced to close for the rest of the year because hundreds of tourists have stripped it of its celebrated lotus flowers.
Longqiao Cultural and Ecological Park in Sichuan province’s Lu county has been closed since late March for watercourse construction and was due to reopen soon.
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The park is well known for its sprawling fields of lotus flowers that cover around 250,000 square metres (62 acres) – an area larger than New York’s Grand Central Terminal.
But since the start of the summer blossom season last month, hundreds of people have been breaking into the park to pick the flowers, forcing managers to keep it closed for the rest of the year.
The flower-pickers have prompted widespread condemnation. Photo: Red Star News
“We cannot control the tourists. We can just guarantee we’ve done our job well. We’ve put notes on the park gate and near the flower field and we have security personnel on patrol as well,” a member of staff surnamed Zhou said.
Zhou added that the construction work in the park was almost finished but that there was no point in reopening because there were virtually no flowers left.
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Around 200 to 300 people a day are still believed to be breaking into the park, and have forced management to increase the number of security patrols.
Videos and photos of people picking lotus flowers have been circulated widely online and drawn criticism.
Visitors pictured climbing the fence to break into the park. Photo: Thepaper.cn
“Even the highest fence cannot stop those without manners. It’s like you can never wake up a person that pretends to sleep,” one Weibo user commented.
“Only penalties can stop these greedy people,” said another.
Source: SCMP
Posted in Boracay, Chinese eco park, forced to stay shut, greedy people, Longqiao Cultural and Ecological Park, lotus flowers, New York’s Grand Central Terminal, penalties, sichuan province, strip away, tourists, Uncategorized, widespread condemnation |
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