An international cruise operator cut the number of its services that link China directly with South Korea. The move deemed to be in line with the retaliatory steps of Beijing against Seoul’s planned installment of U.S. antimissile defense system, industry sources announced.
According to the sources, MSC Cruises, which operates cruise ships departing from Tianjin directly bound for South Korea, now offers 3 fewer trips than usual as of the start of this year. The company is said to have no plan to restore the number of its Korea-bound cruises any time soon.
Recently, some cruise vessels leaving from Tianjin changed their call port from South Korea to Japan. Tianjin, along with Shanghai, are major Chinese turnaround ports for itineraries to South Korea, and most of their passengers are Chinese tourists.
Late last year, other cruise ship companies, (Princess Cruises and NCL) took similar action and reduced their South Korea-bound itineraries out of China significantly.
This move is the latest in a series of what appears to be China’s retaliatory measures against South Korea for its decision in July to allow the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antimissile system on its territory.
China has openly opposed the decision, saying Thaad’s powerful radar system could compromise its national security. South Korea and the USA say the system's deployment is intended only to target missiles from North Korea.
Though China has not officially admitted to taking any retaliatory action, it is believed that Beijing is getting tough on South Korea in many areas ranging from culture and entertainment to tourism.
The tourist industry is one of the hardest hit, as China is said to have ordered Korea-bound tourists be reduced by around 1/5.
It is also known to have rejected South Korean airlines’ requests to fly chartered flights from China to Korea ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
In the face of mounting pressure from China in the economic and business sectors, the Seoul government said earlier that it is preparing diverse countermeasures including possibly taking the Thaad row with China to the World Trade Organization.