Chinese students stranded by Australia’s travel ban can head back to class, via a third country

Some 100,000 Chinese students enrolled at Australian universities have been left stranded by the travel ban imposed to try to limit coronavirus’ spread

One option to skirt the ban is an extended holiday in a third country such as Japan – but only for those with the means to afford it

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Chinese tourists, some wearing face masks, are pictured on Indonesia's resort island of Bali last month. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:45pm, 16 Feb 2020Updated: 3:40pm, 16 Feb 2020

Tony Yan, an international student at Australian National University from China’s Jiangsu province, wasn’t about to let anything get in the way of his studies.

So when the Australian government earlier this month announced a ban on travellers arriving from China in response to the coronavirus outbreak, Yan opted against deferral and instead found a workaround – an extended holiday in Japan.

Since February 8, the mathematics undergraduate has been holidaying in Tokyo to circumvent the restrictions that bar Australia’s non-citizens who have been to China within the last 14 days from returning. After spending a fortnight off of Chinese soil, Yan will fly to Sydney next weekend for the start of the academic year on February 24.

“I’m here just like any other tourist, ticking off the must-see list,” said Yan. “Here I’m just like any other normal person. No quarantine, no face masks, no racism, unlike Australia.”

To skirt the ban, Tony Yan took an extended holiday in Tokyo. Photo: AP

Yan, who is among some 100,000 Chinese students enrolled at universities in Australia who have been stranded offshore, is not alone in looking to a third country to get around the ban, which was introduced on February 1 and extended on a week-by-week basis on Thursday.