The Chinese
tourists who don't want to go home
Feb 7, 2020 — 4.54pm
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Jakarta | Bali's deputy governor will this weekend be praying
for China in a carefully chosen Hindu temple as the holiday island mecca deals
with the problem of tourists who don't want to go home.
In the 12th century, the Balinese king who lived in the
Balingkang Temple married a Chinese merchant's daughter who became Empress.
Nine centuries later, Deputy Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha
Ardhana Sukawati is using that historic link between the Balinese and the
Chinese to make a gesture of sympathy as China deals with the horror of the coronavirus.
Some 1.17 million Chinese visited Bali last year, second
only to 1.23 million Australians.
Not all were welcome. The local government took action
to weed out the "zero dollar" tourist trade,
arresting and deporting Chinese nationals who had moved into local shops and
restaurants and were extorting their countrymen and women, who signed on for
tours at home and spent virtually nothing with Balinese-owned businesses when
they came.
Following the coronavirus outbreak,
Bali faces a different problem. Last weekend the Indonesian government banned
all travel to and from China, leaving about 3000 Chinese tourists stranded in
Bali.
The Chinese government indicated on Friday that it would send
a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 777 to Bali to take home its citizens who live
in Wuhan, the city where the virus originated. The flight is part of Bejing's
containment strategy – it wants everyone from Wuhan back there.
But even if all of the Wuhan citizens on Bali obey their
goverment's direction to return home, many others want to extend their stay on
the island. They all have 30-day visas, and it seems the average stay by a
Chinese tourist in Bali this month will be a lot longer than the regular five days.
"They are afraid to return to their country," said
Putu Winastra, the Bali Secretary of the Association of the Indonesian Tours
and Travel Agencies.
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The Balinese are sympathetic towards these Chinese, but they
are also concerned their presence will put off other tourists.
"I hope the media does not exaggerate the impact of the
coronavirus. We worry that excessive reporting will have an impact on tourism
in Bali," Mr Winastra said.
Ross Taylor, head of the Perth-based Indonesia Institute,
said Bali authorities needed to tread carefully. "This act of kindness by
the Bali authorities in allowing Chinese visitors to stay could, if the numbers
grow, alarm Australian tourists," Mr Taylor said.
"To scare off Australians at this stage would be a
nightmare for Bali's important tourism industry."
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