The latest statement from the US CDC
After China liberalized its policies, some countries began to issue corresponding policies for the entry of Chinese tourists. The United States, Japan, South Korea, India, and Italy have decided to impose entry restrictions on Chinese tourists.
According to comprehensive foreign media reports, the United States (starting January 5th) requires Chinese passengers to provide a 48-hour nucleic acid negative certificate before boarding; Japan (starting December 30th) and Italy (starting December 24th) require Chinese passengers or passengers who have been to China within 7 days to undergo "landing inspection". Italy's test fee is as high as 90 euros, and the test result is positive. Passengers who are sexually active will be required to quarantine; South Korea (from December 16) will list China as a "key country for quarantine inspection", and Chinese passengers and their companions with a body temperature exceeding 37.5°C will be required to quarantine; India (from December 24) will require passengers from China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand to undergo "arrival inspection", and passengers with symptoms or positive test results will be required to quarantine.
However, with the exception of Italy, most European countries are opposed to the question of whether to impose entry restrictions on Chinese tourists.
Screenshot of AFP's report on the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention's statement
According to AFP's report on the 29th, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that despite the surge in new coronavirus infections in China, mandatory screening of travelers from China is "unreasonable." reported that the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention has noticed that the United States, Italy and other countries are preparing to impose entry restrictions on Chinese tourists, but the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention believes that these measures are unnecessary for the entire EU .
After the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention spoke, France was the first to take a stance. According to Reuters , the head of the French Health Risk Committee said on the 29th that the Omicron virus circulating in China has already been epidemic in France and most people have the ability to prevent the epidemic. Therefore, there is no need for France to reinstate entry restrictions on Chinese tourists. Data show that the popular branch of Omicron in China is BF.7, which began to spread in France in November. However, BF.7 only affects 5% to 10% of infections in France, and the number of BF.7 infections is decreasing week by week.
The blue color is the BF.7 infection rate, and the upward trend is gradually slowing down.
Before and after France’s statement, Germany, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and other countries also stated that they would not impose entry restrictions on Chinese tourists.
It is worth mentioning that after the China National Immigration Administration announced that it would resume accepting applications for ordinary passports from Chinese citizens traveling abroad and visiting friends from January 3, 2023, embassies and tourism bureaus in 12 countries including France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Thailand have issued messages welcoming Chinese tourists, without mentioning any entry restrictions on Chinese tourists.
It can be seen that there are differences between Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea on the issue of "whether to impose entry restrictions on Chinese tourists." A very small number of countries have decided to impose entry restrictions on Chinese tourists.
China will not overly criticize the entry restrictions imposed by the United States, Japan, South Korea, India, and Italy on Chinese tourists, because these are epidemic prevention policies of foreign governments and China will not interfere. However, China has given advice, reminding that it is necessary to scientifically and appropriately prevent the epidemic, but not to over-prevent the epidemic, let alone to over-prevent specific countries. In addition, any behavior that links epidemic prevention work with international political stance is an extremely irresponsible manifestation of the world's epidemic prevention work, and will be deeply despised by the international community.
Cross-border flight passengers
However, the United States, Japan, South Korea, India and Italy have tightened their entry policies for Chinese tourists. Who loses? They need to figure it out.
1. Basically, all countries in the world have gradually entered the post-epidemic stage, and have shown a trend of gradual liberalization. The global economy is recovering, and China has also relaxed its exit policy. The British "Guardian" commented that China's move is a hope for global economic growth.In fact, China's contribution has been throughout the entire stage of the world's epidemic prevention work, and it is an indispensable force in promoting global economic recovery in the future. What the United States, Japan, South Korea, India, and Italy have done is tantamount to "retrograde behavior" and is actually not conducive to the economic development of their countries.
2. Many netizens have commented that this is the response of the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries to the entry restrictions imposed by China some time ago. China does not have the right to interfere with foreign epidemic prevention policies, but there is an idiom in China called "Eastern imitation". China adopted entry restrictions at that time because of the raging epidemic abroad, and its domestic epidemic prevention policy was "dynamically cleared." For the safety of people's lives, China must strictly abide by entry barriers. Overall, "the benefits outweigh the disadvantages." Nowadays, the country is gradually liberalizing and restrictions on foreign tourists entering China are gradually lifted. This is a scientific adjustment of epidemic prevention policies.
On the other hand, countries such as the United States, Japan, and South Korea have already "rested." Whether or not the entry of Chinese tourists is restricted will not have a particularly large impact on local epidemic prevention work. On the contrary, it is not conducive to the entry of Chinese tourists to drive consumption. Overall, "the harm outweighs the good." Why European countries are so cautious in imposing entry restrictions on Chinese tourists is precisely because, as long as the epidemic is kept under control, the purchasing power of Chinese tourists has long ranked first in the world and can double the income of the European tourism industry. The sluggish tourism industry in the United States, Japan and South Korea is particularly dependent on the flow of Chinese tourists. Implementing entry restrictions on Chinese tourists will only increase the resistance of Chinese tourists, slow down foreign visit schedules, and is not conducive to the development of the local tourism industry.
3. The entry restrictions announced by India include China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand. It can basically be ruled out that they are specifically targeting China. However, there is a high probability that the United States is specifically targeting China. There have been a lot of frictions between the United States and China recently, and the United States wants to hinder China's development in many fields. Therefore, the possibility of the United States taking this opportunity to make things difficult for China cannot be ruled out. However, the United States' use of "epidemic prevention policy" as a "weapon" will inevitably arouse the contempt of the international community and damage the credibility of the United States.
Direct cross-border flights from China to the United States
Now is a critical period for the world's economic recovery. Under the trend of economic globalization, China has followed the development of the times, scientifically prevented the epidemic, and made great contributions to the global economic recovery. However, some countries have always been obsessed with political manipulation and tried to hinder China's development. In fact, they have already deviated from the correct track of stable development of the global economy. In the end, they will only suffer the consequences.
