China sends coronavirus mercy flight to bring 180 students home from London

Estimated 1.4 million Chinese students remain overseas and most are electing to stay put as pandemic rages around the world

Government will arrange more flights to bring young people home if necessary, in a gradual and orderly manner

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A bus drives along an otherwise deserted Westminster Bridge in London, where about 180 students from China are preparing to return home on a special flight organised by the Chinese government. Photo: AP

Published: 2:59pm, 2 Apr 2020Updated: 9:22pm, 2 Apr 2020

Nearly 200 students, aged between 12 and 17, are due to leave London on Thursday night on board a special flight arranged by the Chinese government.

About 200,000 Chinese students have returned home in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic, but there are still some 1.4 million overseas, including 220,000 in Britain. Most have chosen to stay put, but Chinese foreign vice-minister Ma Zhaoxu said more flights could be arranged if necessary.

Ma said the first government-arranged plane had left Shanghai on Thursday morning and would bring about 180 young people to Jinan, in the eastern province of Shandong.

“For countries with severe epidemics, the Communist Party and government will take necessary measures to help those with difficulty and need to return to China urgently. They will be assisted to return to China in a gradual and orderly manner,” Ma said on Thursday.

China’s foreign vice-minister, Ma Zhaoxu, says the government will arrange more special flights if necessary. Photo: YouTube

There are an estimated 410,000 Chinese overseas students in the United States and another 230,000 in Canada, according to Ma.

“Most of the overseas students, adhering to the principle of no travel until necessary as recommended by the World Health Organisation and the national disease control authority, have chosen to stay, which helps to avoid infection during travel, being stranded at the stopover country because of border control measures, and a series of impacts on their subsequent studies and visas,” he said.

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