Chinese officials fill up first Sansha cruise in disputed seas

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Sansha, on an island in the disputed Paracel chain, is now considered by China part of Hainan province. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:28pm, 29 Apr 2013Updated: 4:20pm, 29 Apr 2013

More civil servants than actual tourists climbed aboard the first Chinese cruise ship to visit disputed South China Sea islands on Sunday.

Only 100 of 240 passengers were regular citizens, the Shanghai Morning Post reported on Monday. The rest were civil servants from various government organs in Hainan province. The debut cruise went to the Paracel Islands' Sansha, the newly established prefecture-level city created last year to consolidate China's de facto control.

As many as 100 tourists paid between 7,000 yuan (HK$8,800) and 9,000 yuan for the four-day voyage, but stayed in second-class cabins or lower. Officials and civil servants, however, were free to choose more luxurious cabins and pay less, the report said.

A price chart obtained by the newspaper also showed that tourists were charged an extra 3,250 yuan per person than civil servants in similar cabins.

But the newspaper said the tourists were not bothered by the unequal treatment. A Hunan passenger surnamed Ma said it was worth the money to experience the “original beauty” of Sansha.

Everyone was subjected to the same high security checks during boarding, however. Passengers went through security checks twice, taking two hours for the whole process, the newspaper said.