The Chinese government has criticized COVID-19 testing requirements imposed on passengers from China and threatened countermeasures against countries involved, which include the U.S. and several European nations.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning said at a daily briefing on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, “We believe that the entry restrictions adopted by some countries targeting China lack scientific basis, and some excessive practices are even more unacceptable.”
“We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning
This week, Australia and Canada joined the growing list of countries that require travelers from China to take a COVID-19 test prior to boarding their flight, as China contends with a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that were in place for most of the pandemic period.
Other countries including the U.S., U.K., India, Japan and several European nations have announced tougher COVID-19 measures on travelers from China amid concerns over a lack of data on infections in China and fears of the possibility that new variants may emerge.
French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, defended the tests. Starting Wednesday, January 4, 2023, anyone flying from China to France will have to present a negative virus test taken within the previous 48 hours and will be subject to random testing on arrival.
“We are in our role, my government is in its role, protecting the French,” Borne remarked.
From Thursday, January 5, 2023, The U.K. will require that passengers from China take a COVID test before boarding the plane.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper explained that the requirement is for “collecting information” because Beijing is not sharing coronavirus data.
Health officials will test a sample of passengers when they arrive in the U.K., but no quarantine is required for those who test positive, Harper said.
“The policy for arrivals from China is primarily about collecting information that the Chinese government is not sharing with the international community.”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper
Sweden’s Public Health Agency disclosed that it had urged the government to require travelers from China to present a recent negative COVID-19 test.
Sweden Calls For Integrated Political Crisis Response Meeting
Sweden, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, has disclosed that officials from the EU member states will hold an Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 where travel restrictions will be discussed with the aim of agreeing on a common line.
The Swedish government “is preparing to be able to introduce travel restrictions. At the same time, we are conducting a dialogue with our European colleagues to get the same rules as possible in the EU,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer revealed in a statement.
Last week, Chinese health officials noted that they had submitted data to the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID), a global platform for sharing coronavirus data.
Mao Ning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said that health authorities had recently held a video conference with the World Health Organization to exchange views on the current COVID situation, medical treatment, vaccination and other technical issues, and agreed to continue technical exchanges to help end the pandemic as soon as possible.
Some countries have applied the requirements to passengers from Hong Kong and Macao, both semi-autonomous Chinese territories, as well as mainland China.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary, Eric Chan opined in a Facebook post that the government had written to various consulates on Monday, January 2, 2023 to express its concerns over the “unnecessary and inappropriate” rules.
China, which for most of the pandemic adopted a “zero-COVID” strategy that imposed harsh restrictions aimed at stamping out the virus, abruptly eased those restrictions in December, 2022.
