150,000 Tourists Stranded in Hainan, Regime Represses Their Protests

People go through pre-departure formalities at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport as tourists prepare to leave the COVID-19-hit resort city of Sanya on Hainan Island, China on Aug. 9, 2022. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese regime repressed protests in Hainan after 150,000 tourists were stranded on the island province under the COVID-19 “zero-tolerance” policy. Eventually, the regime reopened the airports on Aug. 15 and allowed some travelers to leave.

The regime suspended all flight, train, and ferry services across the Qiongzhou Strait in the province on Aug. 6, as a measure to curb a COVID-19 outbreak that began on Aug. 1. Small batches of tourists had were allowed to leave the island by charter flights on Aug 9.

150,000 Tourists

Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan revealed on Aug. 13 that about 150,000 tourists were stranded on the island. On that day, she ordered the provincial regime to allow the tourists to leave, with conditions, and the other provincial regimes to accept the residents who are returning home.