Warning to avoid visiting the Maldives
Print Edition
CHINA’S foreign ministry yesterday advised Chinese citizens to avoid visiting the Maldives until political tensions subside on the Indian Ocean archipelago.
A tropical paradise for holidaymakers, the Maldives has been beset by fractious politics for years, but concern over potential instability heightened after its attorney-general warned on Sunday that the government would resist any attempt by the Supreme Court to impeach President Abdulla Yameen for disobeying its order to free jailed opposition leaders.
“China suggests that Chinese citizens who are preparing to go to the Maldives in the near term to postpone going until the situation on the ground stabilizes,” Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a regular briefing, noting that the forthcoming Spring Festival is a peak period for Chinese tourists to visit the Maldives.
Geng said China supports the resolution of differences between all relevant sides in the Maldives through dialog and consultation to protect its national and social stability.
The Chinese Embassy to the Maldives issued a travel warning on Friday urging Chinese citizens to be cautious when traveling to the country, according to Xinhua news agency.
Mohamed Anil, attorney-general of the Maldives, said on Sunday that the government had received information that the Supreme Court was preparing to fire Yameen, but such a move would be illegal and the police and army had been instructed not to carry out such an order.
Yameen has fired two police chiefs since Thursday, when the Supreme Court threw out terrorism convictions against former President Mohamed Nasheed and eight other opposition figures. Police had indicated they would enforce the ruling.
In power since 2013 and facing elections in October, Yameen is under international pressure to heed the court decision, while hundreds of protesters have taken to the country’s streets to demand compliance with the order.
China and the Maldives signed a free trade agreement in December.
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