China threatens ‘reciprocal’ action against countries imposing COVID tests on travellers

China on Tuesday, Jan 3, threatened the countries with “reciprocity” COVID-19 measures for demanding that Chinese travellers turn in negative COVID tests before they are allowed on the flights. The United States, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Canada as well as Australia, on Tuesday, mandated the Chinese flyers get tested for the new strain of coronavirus.

The test results are needed not more than 48 hours before the departure of the flights, according to the reports. Flights from China, Hong Kong, and Macau into Australia were instructed to be supervised, and travellers will be asked to take the RTPCR test and submit the results to the airline staff effective January 5.

'We firmly reject using COVID measures': China's Foreign Ministry

China on Tuesday expressed opposition to the COVID-19 rules imposed by foreign nations. This came as the country prepared to welcome back international visitors and scrapped the mandatory quarantine arrangements and lockdown despite the new wave of infections.

Beijing dropped President Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID strategy after three years. At a briefing, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning registered condemnation of the COVID-19 measures instated for Chinese nationals, saying: “We firmly reject using COVID measures for political purposes and will take corresponding measures in response to varying situations via the principle of reciprocity."

It remains unclear what corresponding measures China plans to take against the said countries as it already requires negative PCR tests for those entering the country. 

Earlier, the UK government clarified that COVID-19 measures were being taken against Chinese nationals as the country has refused to share COVID-19-related data. Head of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, meanwhile also strengthened calls for the Chinese authorities to share the requested data concerning the coronavirus in a bid to understand the origins of the virus.

“We continue to call on China to share the data and conduct the studies that we have requested, to better understand the origins of this virus,” the WHO chief told a media briefing, as quoted in a statement on the organization’s website. “As I have said many times, all hypotheses remain on the table,” he added. WHO insisted that China must share data on genetic sequencing, hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations related to the new surge of the infections.