China's Ambassador Said Chinese Tourists Will Be Taught How To Behave Properly In Malaysia
He cited an incident that happened in June where tourists from China had acted insensitively in front of a mosque.
China will teach its citizens on how to behave while visiting Malaysia as tourists, said China's Ambassador to Malaysia, Bai Tian
According to Malay Mail, the diplomat was speaking at the 'Bicara Duta' event in conjunction with Malaysia and China's 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties on Sunday, 24 November.
The Chinese embassy in Malaysia was notified of complaints on its citizens being disrespectful of Malaysians' sensitivities.
The acts, Bai Tian said, had embarrassed Beijing.
"The Chinese have a civilisation dating back 5,000 years and we know how to behave properly and not offend others," he was quoted as saying by The Star.
The diplomat cited an incident in Sabah where tourists from China had acted insensitively in front of a mosque, which ticked off many local tourism officials
In June, a video of two women dancing on a wall at Kota Kinabalu City Mosque went viral and caused an uproar among netizens.
The women were fined RM25 and escorted to the airport to be flown back to China. The city mosque also later issued a temporary ban for visitors to the area.
According to The Star, both women had asked for leniency, on the grounds that they did not know what they did was wrong.
"What the Malaysian authorities did was right," remarked Bai Tian on the whole fiasco. "On our part, we will educate our tourists to behave properly in Malaysia."
Bai Tian also said Chinese tourists spent RM12.3 billion over the past year in Malaysia, which makes the embassy more concerned about such misdemeanours
According to Tourism Malaysia's data, China contributed the third-highest number of tourists to Malaysia in 2017 with 2.28 million visitors, and again in 2018 with 2.94 million visitors.
Misbehaving Chinese tourists have made the news multiple times around the world:
Meanwhile, the Immigration Department recently busted the largest online scam syndicate in the country:
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