Photo: REUTERS/copyright
The already difficult relations between China and its two biggest eastern neighbors have been further strained by the new “visa war”.
Beijing suspended the issuance of short-stay visas to travelers from South Korea and Japan, in retaliation for the restrictions of these countries on visitors from China due to the wave of covid.
The Chinese government assured that it will keep the measure in force for South Korea until this country eliminates its “discriminatory” entry restrictions.
Japan and South Korea are not the only countries that impose entry restrictions on travelers from China, immersed in a wave of covid cases, although they are among the strictest.
Scientifically based restrictions?
South Korea last week stopped issuing tourist visas to travelers from China, which the Foreign Ministry in Beijing called “unacceptable” and “unscientific”.
Japan allows travelers from China to enter, as long as they test negative for covid.
Although this policy is similar to those in the UK and US, Tokyo has also limited flights from China to certain Japanese cities.
The Chinese embassies in Seoul and Tokyo confirmed the new visa restrictions for South Korean and Japanese travelers.
China reopened its borders on Sunday for the first time since March 2020 as part of the suspension of its “covid zero” policy.
On the latest visa restrictions on China, the South Korean Foreign Ministry told the BBC that its policy follows “scientific and objective evidence”.
According to the South Korean Agency for Disease Control and Prevention, about a third of people who arrived from China before the visa restrictions came into force tested positive for covid.
Travelers’ experiences
At Incheon International Airport, the largest in South Korea and the only one that still receives flights from China, arrivals are screened by military personnel dressed in protective equipment.
The BBC managed to speak to some of the travelers as they were being escorted to the airport testing centre.
“Personally, I think it’s okay. I’ve been through much worse during this pandemic,” said William, a Shanghai businessman.
“As a traveler, I just try to abide by the rules as much as possible.”
Another passenger, however, expressed her disagreement.
“In my opinion, it’s nothing scientific“said Emily, arriving from Hong Kong. Like travelers from mainland China, she was required to get tested.
“I think that’s a little unfair of him. I guess they must feel really insecure,” she lamented.
Many South Koreans defend the need to protect their country from the coronavirus explosion in China, but not all are convinced that the measure is purely medically motivated.
“There is a political element and the relationship between the two countries is not good. Many Koreans feel animosity towards China and blame it for the coronavirus,” said Jinsun, who was preparing to fly to Abu Dhabi.
Another woman heading to Paris for her honeymoon said South Korea might not have applied those rules if the country in question wasn’t China.
“But then again, whatever we do, China is going to make trouble,” he claimed.
Fear of a new variant
South Korea’s restrictions will last at least until the end of the month, giving scientists time to analyze possible new variants coming from China.
“Right now there is no transparency in China regarding the monitoring of new variants. If a new strain comes from China, it would create a very difficult situation for the whole world,” Professor Kim Woo Joo, an infectious disease expert at Korea University and a government adviser, told the BBC.
“It would also be a disaster for the Korean healthcare system. Right now we have a lot of hospitalizations and deaths, and our elderly are not sufficiently vaccinated. This is what concerns us.”
At the moment, only a small number of business travelers and diplomats from China can enter South Korea. They must test negative before departure and also upon arrival.
A Chinese man who had tested positive escaped from a bus who was taking him to a quarantine hotel near the airport.
Police arrested him two days later at a Seoul hotel.
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