Beijing: The Chinese government has responded strongly to travel bans by several countries allegedly targeting Chinese travelers, threatening to impose more stringent counter-measures in view of the Covid surge in the country. According to international media reports, the Chinese government has expressed its strong displeasure over the COVID testing requirements for travelers from China in several countries and has threatened to retaliate against those countries on the basis of reciprocity.
“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. measure for political purposes and retaliate based on the principle of reciprocity,” Ning said.
Addressing reporters, Mao Ning said that “entry restrictions targeting only Chinese travelers” imposed by some countries “lack scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable”.
Several countries, including India and the US, have imposed pre-departure COVID testing requirements on people traveling from China and its surrounding regions. On Monday, India issued revised guidelines for international air passengers arriving from China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Japan, making RT-PCR testing mandatory within 72 hours from departure.
This will also apply to transit passengers through countries irrespective of their countries of origin before arrival at any Indian airport. Last week, the US Department of Health announced that from 12.01 a.m. on January 5, 2023, all travelers traveling from China, Hong Kong and Macau with a negative COVID-19 status to enter the country to “slow down the spread” of the virus. Testing will be required. ,
The department said the tests could be either RT-PCR or antigen self-tests administered through the telehealth service, adding that passengers would not be required to get tested two days before departure. Some other countries that have taken similar measures include the UK, South Korea, France, Spain and Israel.
The development comes after China announced it would ease its restrictions on travel to and from the country for the first time after nearly three years of restrictions. From January 8, the quarantine for travelers entering China will end and passport applications will resume for Chinese citizens. Meanwhile, the actual figure for daily cases and deaths in China is unknown as authorities have stopped releasing the data.
Media reports say that hospitals are overwhelmed and elderly people are dying.
(With Reuters inputs)