At the G20 Summit in November, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called on China to lift its COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures.
Yet on Dec 27, after China adopted provisional measures to step up cross-border travel, Japan introduced discriminatory entry measures targeting arrivals from the Chinese mainland, who must undergo a nucleic acid test upon arrival. Those testing positive will be quarantined for seven days.
The low fatality and severity rates of the Omicron variants are well known, and there is no reason for Japan and other countries such as the United States and the Republic of Korea to target arrivals from the mainland in disregard of science, facts and their own actual epidemic situations.
China has explained to countries that have expressed concerns the scientific basis for the refinement of its COVID-19 response measures and given them a clear appraisal of the current epidemic situation in the country. There is no justification for such discriminatory measures, which as a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said, are further political manipulation of the pandemic.
The discriminatory nature of the measures has been highlighted by photos posted by Chinese tourists arriving in the ROK and Japan showing they are given colored cards to wear around their neck as they are guided to the nucleic acid test sites.
Which makes it no surprise that China, acting on the principle of reciprocity, has suspended the issuing of short-term visas to citizens of Japan and the ROK, with the new adjustment taking effect on Tuesday.
The political motivation behind the moves of Japan and the ROK is made evident by the welcome extended to Chinese tourists by other countries. When Xiamen Airlines flight MF833 carrying 269 Chinese tourists landed in the Thai capital on Monday, a large group of greeters led by Anutin Charnvirakul, the deputy prime minister and minister of public health, and other officials welcomed the tourists at the airport.
On Tuesday, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control jointly provided guidelines for flights from China, which include requiring tourists to provide test results, advising both tourists and airline staff to wear face masks and strengthening the cleaning and sanitizing work of the plane cabins. Those are more reasonable measures than the invidious ones adopted by Japan and the ROK.
It is the job of any government to protect its citizens, but those discriminating against arrivals from the mainland are using that pretext as an excuse to further smear China's response to the pandemic, which has been more effective than their own. Any attempts at political manipulation are futile given what China's response to the pandemic has accomplished.