South Korea hit back on Tuesday Claims its Covid rules are “discriminatory” for Chinese travelersMore than half of its imported cases are coming from China.
In response to CNBC, Seung-ho Choi, a deputy director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said that up to 80% of “imported confirmed cases” in South Korea are coming from China.
Choi said the number of people traveling from China increased 14-fold from November to December who tested positive for COVID-19.
Choi also said that its policies “cover all Korean citizens and non-Korean citizens coming from China. It is not limited to Chinese people only. There is no discrimination for nationality in this measure.”
Citing South Korea’s proximity to China, Choi said a surge in infections in China could put South Korea at risk.
“The COVID-19 situation in China is still deteriorating…which opens up the possibility of new variants being detected,” he added.
The Omicron variant swept through China in December after authorities relaxed stringent contact tracing requirements that had forced many people to stay close to their homes for nearly three years. As of 8 January, Beijing formally relaxed its international border controls, opening the door to more travel in and out of the country.
It is unlikely that a dangerous new Covid variant is spreading in ChinaSeattle-based director of a health research center at the University of Washington, Dr. Chris Murray told CNBC in late December.
China has banned visa
more than a dozen countries have announced New rules for passengers going from China Most require travelers departing from China to test negative for Covid before arrival – the same requirement China has for international travelers to mainland China.
But South Korea and Japan – the two top destinations for Chinese travelers – said they were not increasing flights in response to China’s reopening of the border. South Korea also announced plans to limit short-term visas for travelers from China.
Embassy of China in South Korea Japan announced on Tuesday That they would stop issuing visas to “Korean citizens” and “Japanese citizens”.
Thai officials welcome Chinese passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on January 9, 2023.
Rachen Sagamsak | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Announcement by the Chinese Embassy in Korea said the rule would apply to visas for tourism, business, medical and “general personal circumstances” and that it was acting “in accordance with Chinese domestic instructions,” according to CNBC Translate.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “China firmly rejects the discriminatory entry ban measures of some countries targeting China and will take reciprocating measures.” Said Tuesday.
‘lack of transparency’
South Korea’s Choi said the policy decisions came after “thorough discussions with relevant government ministries and experts”.
Noting that “the Chinese government stopped publishing data on daily confirmed cases,” Choi said the measures were “inevitable.”
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a press briefing on Wednesday that the United States is requiring that travelers from China take pre-departure tests because of the “precipitation” and “spread” of infections in China, “but because of the lack of The reason is also that adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data are being reported from the PRC.”
“The lack of transparency raises our concern for the potential for a variant to emerge in the PRC and spread beyond its borders,” he added.
‘very fair’
As a responsible member of the international community, we will share with the world the COVID-19 data we are analyzing.
seung-ho choi
korea disease control and prevention agency
Yet a Shanghai-based finance professional, who asked that we refer to him as Derek, called South Korea’s sanctions “very reasonable.”
“None of my friends would board a flight full of Covid positive people,” he said.
Chinese citizen Cheryl Yang said for many people in China, travel is the least of their worries.
“I know a lot of people got sick or [are] sick, and a lot of children don’t go to school,” she said. “Travel will be a secondary problem at this time.”
‘Only temporary’
Choi said that South Korea’s new COVID travel restrictions are “only temporary” and made “to give top priority to the health and safety of people living in South Korea”.
The surge in Covid infections across China could mean the country could quickly outgrow the outbreak, allowing the economy to bounce back faster – some say as early as the second quarter of 2023.
A report by HSBC Global Research published on January 5 said that China’s reopening is progressing faster than expected.
During this, Choi said, “We will do our best to help the world recover from the epidemic.”
“As a responsible member of the international community, we will share with the world the COVID-19 data we are analyzing,” he said.