BEIJING, June 4 (UPI) -- A call center that books appointments for U.S. visa applicants reopened in Shanghai Friday after a six-week closure over a U.S.-China visa row.
The center began operation earlier this year to clear up long lines outside U.S. consulates in China. It was forced to close in April over accusations that the time-based fee for the service was too high, the South China Morning Post reported.
U.S. consulates in three Chinese cities returned to the walk-in procedure last month, and Beijing had just restored the practice Thursday causing more than a thousand people to line up in the street, some staying overnight.
Some observers speculated that the Chinese government allowed the call center to reopen Friday to avoid angry crowds in the street at the consulate, about a mile from Tiananmen Square, on the anniversary of the June 4 student crackdown.
The temporary closure was widely viewed as retaliation for the new fingerprinting requirement for U.S. visa applicants, which sparked anger in China. Beijing also imposed new restrictions and higher fees on Americans seeking Chinese visas.
