China blocks all visas from South Korea and Japan due to Covid

• Japan and South Korea no longer receive short-term visas from China.
• China’s foreign ministry criticized South Korea’s decision.
• The South Korean limitations are expected to remain in place.

Japan and South Korea no longer receive short-term visas from China in response to Covid travel restrictions on Chinese citizens.

The Beijing embassy in Seoul announced that visas for South Koreans traveling to China as tourists had been suspended. China was reportedly implementing similar steps there, according to Japanese media.

Beijing claims that the tit-for-tat action would continue until “discriminatory” entrance restrictions against China are abolished.

China’s foreign ministry criticized South Korea’s decision to suspend providing tourist visas to Chinese nationals as “unacceptable” and “unscientific” last week.

South Korea’s foreign ministry responded to China’s most recent action by telling the BBC that their approach to Chinese immigrants was “in conformity with scientific and objective evidence.”

China is now permitted entry into Japan so long as they do not test positive for Covid.

Prior to the implementation of visa restrictions, a third of all arrivals from China tested positive for Covid, according to South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Arrivals are greeted by military soldiers dressed in protective gear at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, the only South Korean airport that still permits flights from China.

“For me personally, it’s alright. During this pandemic, I have experienced far worse “said William, a Shanghai businessman. “As a traveler, I simply attempt to abide by the rules as much as I can.”

Another traveler, though, was of a different opinion.

“In my mind, it’s not scientific at all,” said Emily, who arrived from Hong Kong. She, like those coming from mainland China, was required to test.

“I feel like it’s a little bit unfair on this side. They must feel really unsafe, I suppose.”

Although many South Koreans believe that the decision to defend their nation from China’s coronavirus outbreak is solely medical, not all of them do.

“There is a political component to it, and there isn’t a nice connection between the two nations. Many Koreans harbor strong hostility toward Chinese people and blame them for the coronavirus, “Jinsun, who was en route to Abu Dhabi, remarked.

Another traveler to Paris on her honeymoon stated South Korea might not have enacted such regulations if the nation in question wasn’t China.

“But then again, whatever we did, China would have a problem with it,” she said.

The South Korean limitations are expected to remain in place at least until the end of the month, giving researchers time to examine any potential new varieties that might be arriving from China.

“China now lacks transparency on any monitoring for novel varieties. A new variation from China would put the entire world in a very terrible situation “Professor Kim Woo Joo, an authority on infectious illnesses and government adviser at Korea University, broke the news.

“It would also be a disaster for the Korean healthcare system. We currently have a lot of hospitalizations and deaths already and our elderly people are also under-vaccinated. This is what we are worried about.”

Only a few business or diplomatic travelers from China are currently permitted entry into South Korea. Both upon arrival and prior to leaving, they must test negative.

One Chinese man who had a positive test ran away from the bus that was carrying him to a hotel for quarantines close to the airport. He was apprehended by cops in a Seoul hotel two days later.

Also Read

China state media warns investors to avoid Yuan in 2023

The yuan in China has risen 2.2% against the dollar this year....