The Chinese Embassy in Washington has published a statement warning its citizens about the dangers of travelling to the United States.
The statement, which was posted on the Embassy’s official website, warns travellers to the US that “shooting, robbery, and theft are frequent” and that tourists should “be alert to suspicious people around you.” Travellers were also advised to avoid going out alone at night.
Summer natural disasters and the high cost of medical expenses were also highlighted as risk factors.
The declaration also stated that “American public security is not sufficient.”
Concerns about gun violence are not new. Following the shooting of a student in Arizona in 2016, the same Embassy instructed Chinese tourists to avoid “crime scenes and tough neighbourhoods”.
A 2015 report also ranked the US second in the world behind Yemen for the highest rate of mass shootings.
Nearly three million Chinese tourists visited the US in 2016. Since 2012, there have been more Chinese tourists travelling abroad than any other nation. The Chinese also spend more money while travelling than those from other countries.
Since President Trump introduced a travel ban from seven predominantly Muslim countries – Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria and Yemen – visitors to the US have declined significantly, a phenomenon widely described as the Trump Slump.
Some commentators have argued that this is not entirely due to a tightening of borders, but a reflection on the decreasing value of the pound and the euro against the dollar, making the US a more expensive destination to visit.
Travel Weekly reported that ForwardKeys, a firm of travel statisticians, had announced a 6.5 per cent drop for inbound bookings to the US in the period between President Trump announcing his first travel ban and the federal judge’s initial temporary blockage.
Flight searches for trips to the US from all international locations were also reported to be down by 17 per cent.
