‘Responsible and necessary’: China defends temporary travel ban on foreigners during pandemic
- Beijing says it looked to other countries before formulating cross-border restrictions
- Pledge to help mainlanders return home despite restricted flights
Liu Haitao, director general for border control and management for the National Immigration Administration, said on Monday that Beijing’s ban would affect foreigners holding Chinese visas or residence permits, but it would not affect those with diplomatic, service or C visas.
Foreigners seeking to enter China for epidemic prevention and control, scientific research, international collaboration or humanitarian needs could apply or reapply for visas at overseas embassies and consulates, Liu said.
“This has been a measure that we took after consulting the practices of many other countries and it is a temporary restrictive measure that we have no choice but to adopt,” Liu said.
“We believe that in the current situation we should minimise unnecessary cross-border activities to effectively protect the lives and health of every citizen, including foreign nationals, by preventing pandemic transmission through individual travel for global health and safety. It is a responsible and necessary measure.”
On Monday, China reported that there had been 31 new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, a drop from 45 new cases the day before. All but one of the new cases on Sunday had been imported.