People driving cars line up to buy food during the Drive-Thru Food Truck Festival in Abbotsford, Canada, June 28, 2020. The drive-thru model allows customers to buy food without leaving their vehicles in order to keep a safe distance during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

The Chinese Embassy to Canada has urged Chinese nationals to exercise caution in planning trips to Canada, which Chinese experts see as a step toward broader deterioration of trade and investment ties.

Chinese citizens should exercise caution in going to Canada due to frequent police brutality and violent protests in the country, the embassy said on its WeChat account on Monday.

The Chinese announcement came days after Canada took a spate of measures after a new national security law was enacted in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region last week.

Canada warned its citizens on travel to Hong Kong in a travel advisory update, suspended exports to Hong Kong of so-called sensitive military and dual-use equipment.

Chinese experts observing the situation said the latest travel warning reflected the worsening China-Canada ties. 

Zhang Lingyun, director of the Tourism Development Academy at Beijing Union University, said the travel cautioning by Chinese diplomatic authorities is based solid ground considering the current situation in Canada.

"The guidance, issued as the pandemic continues to worsen in Canada and globally, is more of a political statement than something that can translate into real-world gains or losses for the tourism sector," Zhang told the Global Times on Monday. 

"Due to the fact that overseas travel services remain closed due to the pandemic, the new guidance will mainly apply to Chinese traveling to Canada for commercial, studying and other purposes," a travel industry insider surnamed Xu told the Global Times Monday.

Although the short-term impact on tourism will be minimal, experts warned of the long-term effects on Canada's billion-dollar tourism and education industries, given the rising animosity in Canada toward the Chinese.

"In the immediate post-COVID-19 world, China's vast number of tourists will be traveling within the country, rather than going abroad," Zhang said.


Newspaper headline: China issues travel advisory for citizens traveling to Canada