We can all visit China now.

Many of my friends and family have been to China - problem free. None of them will visit the USA as things stand.
Can't see the problem dealing with China given the state of the world right now. Yes, there are human rights issues - just as there are in many countries, including Saudi Arabia who we greet with open arms. Frankly I'd rather deal with China rather than Israel and the USA right now.
We are out of Europe having lost many of our trading privileges as a result of Brexit. Say anything to challenge Trump and he raises tariffs on us. Right now we need trading partners and China provides the opportunity.

Irish passport holders can visit China for 30 days without the requirement of a visa

We've never been stopped from visiting China. My friend is there currently and my aunt was there last year.

Why do you think we have to go round the world as mere supplicants...with a begging bowl? It's because we were given the vote to leave the European Union. And most of those leave votes were racially motivated. With the mantra "we don't want no more foreigners" Well it ain't worked. Perhaps we deserve it.

Re China and Visas, THIS PIECE was in the recent Simon Calder/Independent Travel newsletter :-

In the past I have had root canal treatment, and I have applied for a visa to go on holiday to China (though not at the same time). Were I obliged to repeat one or the other, it would be the dental procedure. British travellers to the People’s Republic must complete a devilishly complicated form. They must visit a Chinese visa office in London, Manchester, Belfast or Edinburgh to be fingerprinted. And they must pay upwards of £130. So I welcome yesterday’s announcement from Downing Street that China is finally going to allow visitors from the UK to enter without a visa. That courtesy already extends to around 50 nationalities, including European Union countries, Australia and New Zealand.

As things stand this morning, the easiest way for British travellers to get a brief experience of China is to take the 10-day transit option and pack in some highlights. It works like this: if you fly from the UK to China and have an onward ticket to a third country, you qualify for a 240-hour visa-free transit pass. But the leading tour operator to China, Wendy Wu, believes the visa demand could be lifted as soon as this weekend. “Hopefully, from next Monday, British travellers will be able to go to China visa free,” she told me. “That’s the way China does things.”

For EazyBee, Chump doesn't have a "shrewder idea" of anything much, except getting backhanders from a select group of multi-zillionaires, which button Fox 'News' needs on his TV remote, and perhaps a reliable source of shall we say evening entertainment? (Melania only gets wheeled out for official engagements).

silverlining48

Most countries don’t need a visa for up to 30 days in China but up to now we in the uk do. I don’t know about HK.

They let us in
And out again!

We do need visas for many countries, including Commonwealth countries, although an ETA will suffice in some places.

Most countries don’t need a visa for up to 30 days in China but up to now we in the uk do. I don’t know about HK.

I’ve been planning a trip to China for a while but have been waiting until I’m fully retired so that I can go for 3 weeks plus.
The visas are currently very expensive and time consuming to complete so I welcome the change and look forward to my visit.

I literally cannot wait …. NOT!!!! Another useless ‘gift’ from our useless Government 🤬

silverlining48

Out of interest I just checked and found most of Europe as well as further afield already get free Chinese visas for up to 30 days.
It’s just us and a few random others who have had to pay, it wasn’t cheap.

I didn't think we needed visas anyway for short-term holiday visits?
Or is that just Hong Kong, which we have visited?

GrannyGravy13

According to the Chinese spokesman the visa free travel deal is still at the negotiating stage and not a done deal 🤷‍♀️

...and won't be a done deal until the Mega Embassy is completed and they are building Chinese Junk cars at the old Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port and have stolen the IP from Astra Zeneca regarding the vaccine technology.

I visited China a few years age with my husband and found Chinese people very polite, and once they found out we were English, very curious. When we produced a camera it was as if a director had said “lights action camera” people appeared as if by magic from miles around to be in the photograph we were taking of the two girls we had been talking to, (they all want to learn to speak English. They are nice people.

My son has lived in Shanghai for a few years now, married a gorgeous Chinese girl & they have a son who is 9.
We’ve been out there 3 times, it’s an amazing place to visit.

A long way to go for a takeaeay.
Do they do Deliveroo?
What a load of all tut!

Again Starmer acceptng crumbs from the table.

What a big girls blouse thus so called man is.

My (blond) dd speaks some mandarin, and has been travelling independently all over China on her own, without a problem.
She is still there so wonder why you say it’s not easy to visit independently knspol ? Should I be worried ?

Been to China several times. Not an easy place to visit independently but some amazing sites. Only times I ate outside of western hotels I got food poisoning. I found incredibly welcoming people, lots of staring at light coloured hair and people wanting to take photos of us even in cites like Shanghai and Beijing.

Out of interest I just checked and found most of Europe as well as further afield already get free Chinese visas for up to 30 days.
It’s just us and a few random others who have had to pay, it wasn’t cheap.

We went about 10 years ago, mainly to see the Terracotta Army in Xi’an and toured around whilst there.
While I don’t approve of their human rights etc we found the people to be lovely and extremely welcoming, certainly not unfriendly and rude.
We were invited into homes to have meals with them in several villages (interesting!) in fact blonde hair is thought to be very lucky and I was pestered by school children to be allowed to stroke it!! Fine the first couple of days but got tiresome very quickly!
Yes we needed a visa but no different to many other countries.

We went to Bejing on a Round the World cruise ... It was the only place we got scammed in all of the Ports of Call. Hated it ... went from dirty smelly places to very over polished places ...

Its often true ….you like the people you meet but don’t always agree with their government.

Oreo

silverlining48

My dd is still there, travelling alone, and has met nothing but kindness on her travels. ( thank goodness).
The photos and videos she has sent are full of colour, smiling faces, strange looking food, and lots of random dancing on the street by grans and grands.

I think it could be said of just about every country that tourists and those who go to work there short term or long term will be met by kindness and often generosity at times.
It’s not the people who you will meet in China that are the problem but the regime in charge.Much like in Iran for example.

Oreo Correct.

We enjoyed China in 2005, people were delightful, wonderful experience. We won't return, human rights and the current regime.

eazybee

^Why are negotiations with other countries by our Prime Minister seen as " grovelling", or " toadying"?^

Quite simply because he is a toady.
Attempts to be authoritarian at home, riding roughshod over conventions such as elections, protection of military veterans, making detrimental deals over territories, turning on those who have supported him, whilst grovelling to those who have power.

👏👏👏👏👏👏

eazybee

^Why are negotiations with other countries by our Prime Minister seen as " grovelling", or " toadying"?^

Quite simply because he is a toady.
Attempts to be authoritarian at home, riding roughshod over conventions such as elections, protection of military veterans, making detrimental deals over territories, turning on those who have supported him, whilst grovelling to those who have power.

Spot on 👍

eazybee

^Why are negotiations with other countries by our Prime Minister seen as " grovelling", or " toadying"?^

Quite simply because he is a toady.
Attempts to be authoritarian at home, riding roughshod over conventions such as elections, protection of military veterans, making detrimental deals over territories, turning on those who have supported him, whilst grovelling to those who have power.

Ouch, vert close to the truth