Chinese embassies suspended the issuance of new visas to South Koreans and Japanese on Tuesday in apparent retaliation for recent COVID-19 testing requirements imposed by those countries on travelers from China.
The embassies in Tokyo and Seoul announced the suspensions in brief online notices.
The notice from Seoul, posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account, said the ban would continue until South Korea lifts its “discriminatory entry measures” against China. The ad covered tourist, business and other visas.
China’s foreign ministry threatened countermeasures last week against countries that had announced new virus testing requirements for travelers from China. At least 10 in Europe, North America and Asia have done so recently, and officials have raised concerns about a lack of information about rapidly spreading virus outbreaks in China.
It was unclear why South Korea and Japan were targeted, and whether the suspensions would extend to other countries that have imposed virus tests on passengers from China.
The Chinese embassy in Tokyo only said that the issuance of visas had been suspended. The ads appeared to apply only to new applicants, with nothing about people who currently have visas.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “our government’s step to strengthen anti-virus measures on passengers arriving from China is based on scientific and objective evidence. We have provided information to the international community in a transparent manner. and we have communicated with the Chinese Side in advance.”
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official previously said it would be “regrettable” if restrictions were imposed. The official spoke on the usual condition of anonymity.
Withholding visas for businessmen from South Korea or Japan could delay an expected revival of business activity and possible new investment after China’s abrupt lifting of anti-virus controls last month.
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Business groups had previously warned that global companies were moving investment plans away from China because it was too difficult for foreign executives to visit under pandemic controls. A handful of foreign auto executives and others have visited China in the past three years, but many companies have relied on Chinese employees or managers already in the country to run their operations.
The owner of a South Korean restaurant in Beijing said the announcement forced his friends to postpone plans to visit China. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear that his business could be affected. He added that he is preparing to renew his Chinese work visa and doesn’t know if that will be affected.
In a phone call Monday before the visa suspension was announced, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang “expressed his concern” over South Korea’s measures to his counterpart, Foreign Minister Park Jin. Qin said he “hopes the South Korean side will maintain an objective and scientific attitude.”
A woman arriving from China enters a COVID-19 testing center at an airport in Incheon, South Korea, on January 5, 2023. China suspended visas for South Koreans to come to the country for tourism or business on alleged retaliation for COVID-19 testing requirements on Chinese travelers.
(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
China’s move appeared to be based on its demands that its citizens be treated the same as those of other countries. About a dozen countries have followed the US in requiring a negative test before leaving China, a virus test upon arrival at the airport, or both.
“Unfortunately, a handful of countries, disregarding science and facts and domestic reality, have insisted on taking discriminatory entry restriction measures against China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang said on Tuesday. Wenbin. “China strongly rejected this and reciprocated.”
He did not respond directly when asked if new visas for South Koreans and Japanese had been suspended, saying only that he “had made it very clear.”
The World Health Organization and several nations have accused China of hiding data on its outbreak. A WHO official said on Tuesday that the agency does not see an immediate threat to the European region from the China outbreak, but more information is needed.
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China’s ambassador to Australia said those nations’ response to the COVID-19 outbreak in China had not been proportionate or constructive.
Xiao Qian told reporters in Canberra that China had changed its strategy late last year from preventing infections to preventing serious cases. She said that countries should use a science-based response.
“Entry restrictions, if they are directed at China, are unnecessary,” the ambassador told reporters.
Once cordial ties between South Korea and China, its biggest trading partner, soured after Beijing attacked businesses, sports teams and even K-pop groups to protest the deployment of an advanced US anti-missile system in South Korea.
China fought on the side of North Korea in the 1950-1953 war and has continued to support the North despite its missile launches and nuclear tests, and has opposed further sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s government.
China abruptly reversed its strict pandemic containment requirements last month in response to what it says was the changing nature of the outbreak. That came after three years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing that sparked rare politically-tinged protests on the streets of Beijing and other major cities.
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The most optimistic forecasts say that business and consumer activity in China could revive as early as the first quarter of this year. But before that happens, employers and families face painful pressure from a surge in virus cases that has left employers short of healthy workers and kept wary customers away from malls, restaurants, salons, and more. beauty and gyms.
The Xi government’s decision to end controls that have shuttered factories and kept millions at home will speed up the timetable for economic recovery but could disrupt activity this year as businesses struggle to adjust, they say. the meteorologists.
China now faces a surge in cases and hospitalizations in major cities and is bracing for further spread in less-developed areas with the start of the Lunar New Year travel rush, set to accelerate in the coming days. While international flights are still down, officials say they expect domestic air and rail travel to double over the same period last year.
