The COVID-19 testing requirements on travelers from China have drawn harsh criticism from the Chinese government, which has promised to retaliate against any countries engaged, including the United States and numerous European countries.
At a daily briefing on Tuesday, foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning stated, “We feel that the entry restrictions established by some countries targeting China lack scientific basis, and some unreasonable acts are even more inappropriate.”
“We will take countermeasures based on the concept of reciprocity,” she stated. “We are resolutely opposed to attempts to misuse the COVID measures for political objectives.” Mao made no mention of any actions China might take.
The remarks were China’s most incisive on the subject to date. As China battles a nationwide coronavirus outbreak after abruptly loosening restrictions that had been in place for the majority of the pandemic, Australia and Canada this week joined a growing list of nations requiring travelers from China to take a COVID-19 test before boarding their flight.
Other governments, including the U.S., U.K., India, Japan, and several European countries, have declared tighter COVID-19 measures on travelers from China in response to worries about the dearth of information on illnesses there and the potential for the emergence of new strains.
Elisabeth Borne, the prime minister of France, supported the exams. Beginning on Wednesday, everyone traveling from China to France must show proof of a recent negative viral test.
On Tuesday, Borne stated on France-Info radio, “We are in our role; my administration is in its role, protecting the French.”
The U.K. will start requiring COVID testing before boarding for Chinese travelers on Thursday. Since Beijing isn’t sharing coronavirus data, Transport Secretary Mark Harper claimed that the obligation is for “gathering information.”
When travelers arrive in the U.K., health officials will test a sample of them; he said those who test positive won’t need to be quarantined.
Harper told the LBC radio station on Tuesday that the policy for arrivals from China is mostly about gathering data that the Chinese government is not disclosing to the international world.
The government of Sweden’s Public Health Agency said on Tuesday that it had urged the government to require travelers from China to present a recent negative COVID-19 test.
Last week, Chinese health officials said they had shared information with GISAID, a global network for exchanging coronavirus data.
According to GISAID, the virus strains to cause infections in China “closely mirror” those reported in other regions between July and December.
According to Dr. Gagandeep Kang, a virus researcher at the Christian Medical College of Vellore in India, the scant evidence from China seemed to indicate that “the trend was holding” and that no alarming variants were on the horizon.
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