Beijing responded strongly to restrictions imposed by several countries on Chinese travelers and threatened retaliation against the United States as well as European countries involved.
“We believe that the entry restrictions adopted by some countries targeting China lack scientific basis, and some excessive practices are even more unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a daily briefing on Tuesday.
Ning further said, “We strongly oppose attempts to manipulate COVID measures for political purposes and will retaliate based on the principle of reciprocity.”
Countries mandate negative pre-departure Covid tests
Earlier, India and Australia joined a growing list of countries that require travelers from China to undergo a Covid test before boarding their flight, as China abruptly eased restrictions imposed over the pandemic. The latter is grappling with the nationwide outbreak of coronavirus. ,
Other countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Japan and several European countries, have announced stricter COVID measures on Chinese travelers amid fears of a lack of data on infections in China and the spread of the new variant.
China, which adopted a ‘zero-covid’ strategy for most of the pandemic that imposed harsh restrictions aimed at stamping out the virus, abruptly eased those measures in December.
Chinese officials previously said that from January 8, foreign travelers would no longer need to quarantine upon arrival in China, paving the way for Chinese residents to travel.
(with inputs from AP)
Read this also | Covid Alert: America issued new mandate; Travelers from China to submit negative coronavirus test
Read this also | Covid Alert! Australia took a U-turn; China mandates pre-departure COVID-19 tests for travelers