No head for heights: China defends Tibet travel restrictions

Communist Party Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region Wu Yingjie and Governor of Tibet Autonomous Region Qizhala attend a news conference during the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, China, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

BEIJING (Reuters) - Foreigners can't handle Tibet's high altitude so China needs to restrict access, the top Chinese official in charge of the remote and mountainous region said on Wednesday, defending tough government restrictions on who can go there.

Access to Tibet, which China says it "peacefully liberated" in 1950, has become another irritant in ties with the United States after President Donald Trump signed into law a Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act in December.