Beijing threatens response to ‘unacceptable’ virus measures

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese language authorities blasted COVID-19 testing necessities imposed on passengers from China and threatened countermeasures towards international locations concerned, which embrace the U.S. and a number of other European nations.

“We imagine that the entry restrictions adopted by some international locations concentrating on China lack scientific foundation, and a few extreme practices are much more unacceptable,” International Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated at a every day briefing Tuesday.

“We’re firmly against makes an attempt to govern the COVID measures for political functions and can take countermeasures based mostly on the precept of reciprocity,” she stated.

The feedback have been China’s sharpest to this point on the difficulty. Australia and Canada this week joined a rising checklist of nations requiring vacationers from China to take a COVID-19 check previous to boarding their flight, as China battles a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that have been in place for a lot of the pandemic.

Different international locations together with the U.S., U.Okay., India, Japan and a number of other European nations have introduced harder COVID-19 measures on vacationers from China amid issues over a scarcity of knowledge on infections in China and fears of the chance that new variants could emerge.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne defended the checks. Beginning Wednesday, anybody flying from China to France should current a destructive virus check taken throughout the earlier 48 hours and be topic to random testing on arrival.

“We’re in our function, my authorities is in its function, defending the French,” Borne stated Tuesday on France-Information radio.

Some Canadian consultants have questioned the effectiveness of the testing. Kerry Bowman, assistant professor on the College of Toronto’s Temerty School of Medication, stated that folks can check optimistic lengthy after coming into the nation.

The requirement is “not based mostly on science at this level,” he stated after Canada introduced measures final weekend.

China, which for a lot of the pandemic adopted a “zero-COVID” technique that imposed harsh restrictions geared toward stamping out the virus, abruptly eased these measures in December.

Chinese language authorities beforehand stated that from Jan. 8, abroad vacationers would not must quarantine upon arriving in China, paving the way in which for Chinese language residents to journey.