Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 11: Chinese authorities suspended issuing short-term visas to South Korean and Japanese citizens on Tuesday, as Beijing retaliates against recent Covid-19 entry restrictions on arrivals from China.
The restrictions mark China’s first retaliation against restrictions and screenings placed on travellers from China. A number of countries made testing mandatory for travellers from China in recent weeks, citing concerns over the country’s recent surge of infections and limited data about the outbreak.
Reacting to this, South’s Foreign Minister Park Jin said on Wednesday, “China’s recent decision to suspend the issue of short-term visas in South Korea was ‘deeply regrettable.”
Park told a news briefing, adding that “It’s deeply regrettable China took such a countermeasure by entirely suspending the issuance of short-term visas”, adding that South Korea still issues visas to Chinese visitors for urgent business or humanitarian purposes.
The embassies in Tokyo and Seoul announced the suspensions in brief online notices.
The Chinese Embassy in Seoul said in a statement on Tuesday that “Visas for business, tourism, medical treatment, transit and general private affairs will be suspended for South Korean citizens effective today.”
The embassy notice added further that the measures will be ‘adjusted’ if South Korea cancels its ‘discriminatory’ entry restrictions on China. The Chinese embassy in Tokyo later that day said it would suspend issuing ordinary visas to Japanese citizens, with a resumption of the service to be notified in the future.
China’s Foreign Ministry threatened countermeasures last week against countries that had announced new virus testing requirements for travellers from China.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry statement said that “our government’s step to strengthen anti-virus measures on passengers arriving from China is based on scientific and objective evidence, and we have communicated with the Chinese side in advance.”
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said earlier that it would be ‘regrettable’ if restrictions were forced. The official spoke on customary condition of anonymity.
Later on, The World Health Organization and several nations accused China of withholding data on its outbreak. A WHO official said Tuesday that the agency sees no immediate threat for the European region from China’s outbreak, but that more information is needed.
