China hits back at American ‘coronavirus overreaction’ with travel warning for US
- Beijing cautions Chinese travellers not to go to the United States, citing unfair treatment of people from China
- Action symbolic but will further strain relations between the two countries, analyst says
The advisory released by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday cautioned travellers not to visit the US due to American’s overreaction to the deadly virus, unfair treatment of Chinese tourists in the US and unspecified uncertainties over its domestic security.
Although it appeared to be a direct response to a similar step by Washington nearly a month ago, experts and industry insiders said Beijing’s move was largely politically motivated and might not have much impact given the harsh travel restrictions already in place.
While more than 60 countries have imposed some form of travel restrictions on people from China and some two dozen countries have evacuated their citizens from Wuhan, the epicentre of the epidemic, Beijing appeared to be particularly offended by the US, which was among the first to act.
Pang Zhongying, a Beijing-based international affairs analyst, said Beijing’s latest move showed China’s strained and sometimes adversarial ties with the US over trade and geopolitics had been further marred by the coronavirus crisis.