Coronavirus: Beijing residents get an apology after travel curbs leave some stranded

Some say transport operators refused to sell them tickets home, even though they met requirements to enter the city amid latest outbreak

Official apologises over reports that ‘members of the public were mistakenly targeted by control measures, which impacted their itineraries’

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Passengers at the Beijing Railway Station on Friday. Authorities have urged residents not to leave the capital unless necessary and restricted people from entering the city from infected areas. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:31pm, 2 Nov 2021Updated: 11:50pm, 2 Nov 2021

Beijing’s latest Covid-19 travel restrictions have prompted complaints from frustrated residents who say they have been unable to return to the city – and a rare apology from an official.

Some residents say they have been stranded elsewhere in the country because transport operators refused to sell them tickets home even though they met the requirements to enter Beijing.

Others, including programmer Jason Li, say they have had to cancel plans to leave the Chinese capital.

Li said he had booked a trip home to Sichuan province for the Lunar New Year holiday in February, but the airline told him the return leg was not possible because of “local Beijing policies”.

“Poor policy coordination has spoiled my holiday plans,” the 32-year-old said after cancelling the whole trip in case he could not get back.

Chinese authorities are tightening restrictions to control a new outbreak of locally transmitted Covid-19 cases that began on October 17 in the north of the country. Although case numbers have been relatively low, including in the capital, authorities are on high alert as they try to maintain a zero-tolerance policy, particularly in the lead-up to an important Communist Party meeting next week.