The large Yuang Wang 5 entered the port of Papeete on Monday. The ship’s personnel have still not disembarked. According to the public television channel Polynésie Première, the People’s Republic of China did indeed submit a request to the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) for the Yuan Wang 5 and Yuan Wang 6 to call at Tahiti. The response was positive.
No visas
No crew list was sent, and no visa application was made to the French Embassy in Beijing for the members of the ship, as required by the regulations for entering the country. No visa could therefore be issued to the crew members: the ship’s personnel cannot be authorised to disembark. So the ship can stay, but the staff can’t go ashore.
This is no small scientific vessel, with 300 scientists on board. The ship is of course suspected of being a spy ship. It is part of the third generation of “space observation ships”. The Chinese ship is due to leave on Monday 13th. It should make way for the Yuang Wang 6…
