The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, has turned down a request from French Polynesia's president Oscar Temaru regarding the allocation of visas to Chinese tourists willing to visit French Polynesia.
The paper, Tahitipresse says in April, Mr Temaru had asked Mr Kouchner to adopt simplified visa procedures to avoid tedious paperwork for Chinese tourists with Gold and Platinum visa cards.
In his reply, Mr Kouchner says there is no need to establish new procedures, because the way such visas are awarded has already been improved.
He says processing visas with French Polynesia as a destination is now taking the same time as processing visas for people wanting to go to France.
He also says Chinese tourists now don't have to go to a Consulate for a tourist group visa application.
