Coronavirus: decision to ban new visitors from China to protect Singapore’s public health, PM Lee Hsien Loong says

Lee Hsien Loong said China is ‘doing all it can’ to contain the virus, and the city state’s travel curbs are in line with Beijing’s border control efforts

Slamming the anti-Chinese sentiment over the disease, he said that all countries must work together to solve the problem

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Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 7:00am, 2 Feb 2020Updated: 3:04pm, 25 Feb 2020

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday said his his move to bar new visitors who have recently been to mainland China from entering the city state is a pre-emptive one “purely to protect our public health”.

Speaking to around 2,500 residents at a Lunar New Year dinner in his Teck Ghee ward, Lee said that China is “doing all it can” to contain the Wuhan coronavirus, and that Singapore’s travel restrictions are in line with China’s border control efforts. He also slammed the anti-Chinese sentiment that has bubbled up in the last few days in several countries.

Said Lee: “Regrettably, anti-PRC [People’s Republic of China] sentiment has come up in the last few days in many countries. This is not helpful at all.

“Even though the virus started in Wuhan, it does not respect nationality or race – anybody can be infected. The virus does not check a person’s passport before it infects him.

“This is a problem that all countries must work together to solve, because it can easily get out of control in any one country, not just China.”

Speaking in Mandarin, the prime minister said he learned of a group of Singaporeans who, while on holiday in Australia, was mistaken to be Chinese nationals and was not permitted to take part in certain tourist activities. He also noted how netizens were calling for boycotts against Chinese nationals online.