BEIJING (AFP) -- China called the mounting international restrictions on travelers from its territory “unacceptable” on Tuesday after over a dozen countries placed fresh Covid curbs on visitors from the world’s most populous nation.
The United States, Canada, Japan and France are among the countries insisting all travelers from China provide negative Covid tests before arrival, as concerns grow over a surge in cases.
China’s steep rise in infections comes after Beijing abruptly lifted years of hardline restrictions last month, with hospitals and crematoriums quickly overwhelmed.
But Beijing has pushed ahead with a long-awaited re-opening, last week announcing an end to mandatory quarantines on arrival in a move that prompted Chinese people to plan trips abroad.
“Some countries have taken entry restrictions targeting only Chinese travelers,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing.
“This lacks scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable,” she added, warning China could “take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity”.
Asked about China’s reaction, France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne defended the new rules.
“I think we’re performing our duty in asking for tests,” Borne told franceinfo radio.
“I think we’re performing our duty in protecting French people by asking for tests,” Borne told franceinfo radio when asked about China’s reaction.
“We’re doing it while respecting the rules of the World Health Organization and we will continue to do it,” she added.
The rules imposed affect all travelers coming from China -- not just Chinese nationals -- while Beijing continues to restrict inbound visitors and not issue visas for tourists or international students.
As health workers nationwide battle a surge in cases, a senior doctor at one of Shanghai’s top hospitals said 70 percent of the megacity’s population may now have been infected with Covid-19, state media reported Tuesday.
Chen Erzhen, vice president at Ruijin Hospital and a member of Shanghai’s Covid expert advisory panel, estimated that the majority of the city’s 25 million people may have been infected.
“Now the spread of the epidemic in Shanghai is very wide, and it may have reached 70 percent of the population, which is 20 to 30 times more than (in April and May),” he told Dajiangdong Studio, owned by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.
Shanghai suffered a grueling two-month lockdown from April, during which over 600,000 residents were infected and many were hauled to mass quarantine centers.