Muslim Travelers Blocked From Low-End Guangzhou Hotels

Police in Guangzhou, China, are blocking stays of potential hotel guests from five predominately Muslim countries.

Police in Guangzhou, China, are blocking hotel stays for residents of Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan, apparently without the knowledge of the Chinese foreign ministry.

The hotels, all low-end properties with rooms averaging to about $23 per night, reported to Reuters that the police had sent them notices beginning in March to turn away those customers.

“I’m not clear of the reason. We just can’t take them,” one hotel employee told Reuters.

The South China Morning Post reported on Friday that the restriction seems like a security measure in advance of two high-profile events happening in China, but the foreign ministry claims not to have been made aware of any such restrictions.

“I’ve never heard that there is this policy being followed in China,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told Reuters. “Moreover, as far as China is concerned, our policy in principle is that we encourage people from China and other countries to have friendly exchanges and are willing to provide various convenient policies in this regard.”

Guangzhou has a high population of foreigners itself, mostly traders from Africa.

All five of the countries on the restricted list have fallen victim to terrorist attacks in the past several years, or have continually been in a state of war. Western China has its own Muslim population as well, though in a violence-stricken area. The government says it is working against a campaign from extremists that live in the region.

Higher-end hotels have not reported any similar restrictions.

[Photo: Paradise in the World]