Beijing Criticizes the “Political” Rules for its Visitors in China on Covid

January 5, 2023 China Events & Announcements

The Chinese government has warned that it may react if other nations continue to limit travel for Chinese nationals, alleging that these restrictions are politically motivated.

Among the countries that have made testing for arrivals from China mandatory are the US, India, and the UK.

Following the relaxation of its stringent rules, the nation has recently experienced an increase in Covid cases.

Additionally, there are worries that incidents and fatalities may not be reported at all.

Fewer than 5,000 cases were recorded in China’s previous daily Covid update, which was published on December 24. However, some researchers assert that the number of cases reported daily has already surpassed two million and may reach a peak of around four million this month.

More than a dozen nations announced Covid testing on arrivals from China because to a lack of data and China’s announcement that it was lifting travel restrictions starting on January 8.

China has been urged by the World Health Organization (WHO) to disclose more up-to-date data, and a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry said on Tuesday that Beijing was ready to “enhance contact with the world.”

The government, according to spokeswoman Mao Ning, would take comparable actions in accordance with the concept of reciprocity and is “firmly opposed to attempts to distort the epidemic prevention and control measures for political goals.”

Since March 2020, China’s borders have been largely closed, making it difficult for foreigners to enter and subjecting those who did to rigorous screening and quarantine.

High levels of immunization and immunity have been advocated by the disease prevention agency of the European Union and Australia’s Chief Medical Officer to lessen the threat that Covid poses.

However, despite this, nations have mandated testing for Chinese immigrants, including in the EU.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne stated on Tuesday that she believed her country was doing its part to protect the French people by requesting tests.

“We’re doing it while observing the World Health Organization’s regulations, and we’ll keep doing it.”

According to the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, the majority of member states support imposing travel restrictions. Although some nations have already implemented their own policies, it is anticipated that a decision on Wednesday will determine whether those policies will be applied to all EU nations.

The US has defended its testing standards as being “solely and totally based on science,” according to the US.

It’s not the first time that Beijing and the world community have disagreed over the virus. Late in 2019, Wuhan in central China, saw its first case, and the administration rejected efforts to look into its causes.

As a result of having “sufficient supply,” China on Tuesday rejected a request from the European Union to provide an undetermined quantity of Covid-19 vaccinations to assist combat the spike in infections.

According to official statistics, China has administered more than 3.4 billion doses, the majority of which have been CoronaVac.

The government has up to now insisted on utilizing solely Chinese-made vaccines, despite the fact that they have been shown to be less effective against the Omicron strain than other mRNA vaccines manufactured in the West.