Don’t travel to Maldives: China tells its citizens

China today warned its citizens not to travel to the Maldives for holidays due to the political turmoil there, in a setback to beleaguered President Abdulla Yameen whose country’s economy relies heavily on Chinese tourists.

The Maldives has plunged into political crisis as the Supreme Court yesterday asked Yameen to comply with its order to release political prisoners and reinstate dissident lawmakers.

This led to a tense standoff as Yameen has not yet implemented the apex court’s ruling leading to agitations by the Opposition parties.

“China is closely following the developments in the Maldives,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media here asking the Maldivian government and the political parties to resolve differences through dialogue while maintaining national stability and social order.

He, however, declined to join the calls by the United Nations, the US and India asking Yameen who is widely regarded as pro-China to implement the Supreme Court order.

“What happened in the Maldives is Maldives’ internal affair. China supports the relevant parties in the Maldives to properly resolve their differences through dialogue and consultation and maintain national stability and social order,” he said.

But at the same time he said China has issued a “security …read more