AFP reports China has put in place tougher rules on access to the Tibetan side of Mount Everest next year as part of its preparations for the Olympic torch relay.
The new regulations will include stricter background checks on foreign climbers following threats by Tibetan independence activists to step up protests against China’s presence in the region during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Ang Tsering Sherpa told AFP that Chinese officials “will not limit expeditions but they will strictly vet the expedition teams”. He said China plans to limit the number of different nationalities represented in each climbing team, demand climbers’ documents two and a half months before the trip, and prohibit substitutions or last-minute additions to an expedition.
Sherpa said, “the main purpose is to run the Olympic expedition smoothly without problems. That is their main concern”. He said the restrictions did not apply to the Nepali side of the mountain.
Sherpa said the torch summit bid by a team of hardened Chinese climbers is expected to take place in early May, slightly earlier than the traditional window when lines of mountaineers often queue for access to the summit.
Kate Saunders, spokeswoman for the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet said, “in taking the torch to the summit China wants to convey a message of ownership over this most potent symbol of Tibetan land. The new restrictions represent a more systematic attempt to control and manage the presence of international expedition teams on Everest at a crucial time for China. Chinese officials are acutely aware that mountaineers carry the latest communications technologies and are therefore capable of transmitting information directly to the outside world”.
