Perhaps the remarks need to be re-read, since most of this is moot, and there's anyway no claim of illegality (a term anyway of little use in China), merely impropriety.

The argument is with the pace and content of tours being driven by such considerations, and tourists being hustled into the sideshows (and restaurants, hotels, gift shops) that make the highest bids. This isn't some regulated 'standard agency commission', and the incautious tourist loses out on every front.

Peter N-H
http://www.datasinica.com