Trip.com chairman wants Japan-China tourist travel to resume this year

Should've closed off tourism to China at the same time as Taiwan did......

We haven’t had the second wave yet James...

Japanese businesses sure could use Chinese tourist dollars.

They are by far, the biggest spenders overall in Japan.

No thank you. We don't wanna a second wave.

Resuming leisure travel between Japan and China? Not until we have a full disclosure from China about the origins of the virus and how it spread.

Pandora’s box. Keep japan closed to China for as long as possible. Then a little longer

Not a hope in hell. Of all the countries that Japan should be opening up non-essential travel to, China ranks waaaay waaaay down the list. Because we all know how open and transparent China has been on the whole Covid-19 issue.

No thank you. We don't wanna a second wave.

China has covid19 infections under control for a long time now

Dear James, the world has changed in last 8 months...The view on China has completely changed. China did so many bad thinks to the world and you think we just say come on let's continue like before.....It does not work like this. On top China still did not explain where the virus came from. We don't want to see advocates of communist tyranny anywhere...

Sorry James, but to hell with your profitability. You don't decide when tourism should be opened. And that's IF it's opened to Chinese tourists after this bomb China dropped on the whole world.

i@nToday  08:03 am JST

No thank you. We don't wanna a second wave.

China has covid19 infections under control for a long time now

If you believe their government issued numbers.

Don't let the mainland Chinese in!

NO

Being that the pandemic didn't turn out to be the horror show the "experts" predicted it to be, I agree with James. Japan needs business. People will lose their business and get payed off which results in suicide and more welfare which the government cannot afford.

Welcome back tourism to Japan!

What an idiot! money before safety? No thank you!

China has controlled the covid19 spread in their country and Japan sorely needs the tourism revenue.

But it seems many want the japan-china tourism to not resume due to racism only.

At least some don't have any pretensions, they just voice out their disagreement without offering lame excuses.

Chinese are the very LAST market that should be allowed back in. Considering the Communist govt lie about everything, and have covered up the whole outbreak, we must surely assume that Covid infections are wildly out of control in various regions of China.

Allowing Chinese business people in or tourists is a guarantee to get a huge second wave.

I can't believe the Japanese government would even consider this after what has happened and what is still happening right now. The answer must be unequivocally absolutely NO!

China has covid19 infections under control for a long time now

They don't test and don't report; bingo, problem solved.

@ I@n

It has nothing to do with racism. This has to do with the fact that when the Pandemic was evolving in Wuhan China locked down domestic travel however still allowed international flights to leave.

Was Taiwan racist when Taiwan immediately stopped inbound travel from China? No; they are the same race.

Taiwan was very smart.

i@n get a grip man, trying to speed up tourists from CHINA......hell we have no idea what really went down there that started this whole thing, CHINA owes the entire world BIG TIME for this!!!

life is more valuable than money. block them for 2-3 years.

Its not the Chinese people's fault. I think i@n is right. It's basically racism that stopping Chinese tourism. But the sad part is Japan is shooting itself in the foot.

I find it very strange that people still claim it is in the name of safety when we already have seen the virus is not as bad as the media made it out to be. The death rate is extremely low and only the 70 and above population needs to take care of their health. As you get older your body becomes weaker. It's just a fact of life.

Open up the economy so people can start their lives back up!

Maybe we should have this conversation after the government tells me I can take a train up to Tokyo without worry, or a plane to Okinawa, or even a one-hour bus trip to a hot spring.

@tokyo-engr

We all know Taiwan and China hate eachother with a passion. Maybe it's not racism but there is some extreme antipathy between the two.

By the way, does anyone know if Taiwan still doesn't receive flights from China?

china was not rich years back and all countries were fine. really no need to depend on them.

the money made from china before not even enough to cover the loss from the wuhan virus.

all they care about is money not human life.

I'm guessing the government will open up international travel if the epidemiologists think we can keep the death rate from going up too precipitously from where it is now -- about 9 per million. That seems to be the compromise they have been accepting so far -- it went from 7 to 8 to 9 per million in the past three months, so that trajectory is likely to continue.

@ WhatsNext -

Its not the Chinese people's fault. I think i@n is right. It's basically racism that stopping Chinese tourism.

Oh, please, we've all had enough of the typical "racism" call when someone cant produce valid argument. Japanese people are certainly super welcoming to Taiwanese and Hong Kongers as soon as safe enough. And guess what? They are the same race.

There is zero "racism" here - just a desire to keep Japan safe.

Sorry James, but to hell with your profitability. You don't decide when tourism should be opened. And that's IF it's opened to Chinese tourists after this bomb China dropped on the whole world.

And neither do you as well. Easy to see how you think about ALL the Chinese people here, like the people of China themselves were responsible for the virus. In my opinion this is a very ignorant point of view, considering who the "leader" of the posters country is!

Always blame someone else, and never look in the mirror!

Of course a CEO of a travel agency would encourage people to travel, it's part of his shtick, and I'm actually in favor of easing travel with obvious precautions.

But China should be high-risk and low priority. Let other countries with good records like Taiwan enter first.

Kind of obvious. It would be like Richard Branson saying he wants us all to start boarding flights tomorrow.

The world should seriously reconsider reopening borders and conducting business with China again. Anyone else see the mass pool party hosted by the very city where this pandemic began.?!

Nothing to do with racism but until the CCP becomes transparent and HONEST about infection rates in China, then no admission. That administration has already caused enough trouble to the rest of the world already as it is, and James, go look for different business avenues if your current one isn’t making you money, don’t cause anyone else in the global community and further trouble.

It is a very dumb idea.

I'm not going to focus about China or not China, my point still stands.

At least for some time, if you are going to focus on tourism, it should be to a smaller and more manageable group where all the resources are on hand, for example, contact tracing, and so on are readily available and able to deal with any potential issues that may arise in a rapid manner.

Whether this smaller group be to China or to any other nation is completely moot, but this proposal smacks of "oh my gawd I want my profits now let the floodgates open" and is beyond stupid, foolish, and reckless.

I love to travel as much as many other people, but this proposal does not respect the greater community one bit.

This is "news"?

Guy losing money from no travel, wants travel again?

CCP becomes transparent and HONEST about infection rates in China, then no admission

To say nothing of the genocide the CCP is perpetrating against the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang. Virus or not this should be enough to prevent their tourists travelling anywhere.

factchecker, good point. But Abe knew about Covid in March and still allowed Chinese to travel in. He opted for tourist money over his nations safety.

One way or another, the government needs to pick a lane. The half measures and indecision has meant that both public health measures and economic revitalisation have failed to be anything but palliative at best. The virus, while not skyrocketing out of control, is still chipping away at domestic economics and maintaining a pretty solid baseline for future surges, while the economic stimulus fails to stimulate domestic consumers. Of course, as I have stated before, I think the public health option is the better one, but Id even support full economic focus over this current strategy.