2015-05-14
Security forces participate in a military drill in Hotan, Xinjiang, June 6, 2014.
AFP
Tibetans and members of the mostly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group have been placed on a security blacklist when they seek hotel rooms in major Chinese cities, with staff informing local police stations when they try to check in, sources told RFA on Thursday.
An employee who answered the phone at a Beijing branch of the homegrown Homeinns hotel chains confirmed that the hotel would take special action if Tibetans checked in.
“We would inform the local police station, that’s all,” the employee of the Ganlu Yuan branch of Homeinns in Beijing’s Chaoyang district said.
“But there wouldn’t be a problem as long as they have their ID card.”
Meanwhile, an employee who answered the phone at the Hanting Hotel in Beijing’s Haidian district said special measures are also in place for the mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uyghur ethnic group from the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
“Uyghurs can book rooms, but the police will pay a visit,” the employee said. “As soon as they register, it will all go through on the system.”
“As soon as we register their ID card, the police will come round here,” the employee said.
Asked if the procedure was the same for Tibetans, the employee said: “That’s right. Police will go to their room.”
Direct link to police
In Shanghai, an employee who answered the phone at the Changning district branch of the 7Days hotel chain said similar processes were in place there, too.
“The [Tibetan or Uyghur] person doesn’t have to go the police station themselves,” the employee said. “The details will get passed straight through to the police computer network.”
“Basically, it’s passed to the local police station.”
And in the southern city of Guangzhou, an employee at the Baogang Road 7Days Hotel said that Uyghurs would need to go through additional security checks if they tried to book a room.
“Uyghurs would need to give me their ID card number so I could run a check on it for them,” the employee said.
Asked if there was a blacklist of people banned from booking hotel rooms, the employee said: “That’s correct.”
Non-blackisted Uyghurs would still be reported to the local police station if they checked in, the employee said.
Asked about the status of Tibetans, the employee said: “It’s the same thing. After they register, their details are sent to the police for checking.”