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China imposes retaliation for COVID-19 on South Korea and Japan

China imposes retaliation for COVID-19 on South Korea and Japan

Chinese consulates in South Korea will stop issuing short-term visas for visits, business, tourism, medical care, transit and personal affairs from Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said in a statement. The suspension will be adjusted if South Korea removes its “discriminatory entry restrictive measures” directed at China, he added.

Beijing also stopped issuing visas to China-bound travelers from Japan from Tuesday, according to a spokesman for a major Tokyo travel agency who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

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The move was previously reported by Kyodo, citing unnamed people in the travel industry. The Chinese embassy in Tokyo was not available for comment after normal business hours.

The decision represents China’s first retaliatory attempt after a number of nations recently implemented testing requirements for travelers from the country. The rollback of China’s zero COVID-19 policy after nearly three years has led to a spate of infections that, combined with a lack of information about how many people are sick or dying, has raised concerns about the possibility of new strains of the virus emerging. virus.

Limiting visas issued to travelers from the two countries will markedly dampen China’s hopes of a recovery in inbound tourism after it lifted its travel lockdown this week. Before the pandemic, South Korea and Japan were the two biggest sources of visitors to the world’s second-largest economy, according to the latest available data from the national statistics office. In 2018, South Korean visitors made about 4.2 million trips to the country, followed by 2.7 million made by Japanese travelers.

Shares of some South Korean companies linked to travel and tourism fell in afternoon trading.

The dispute will likely revive memories of China’s decision to slash trade with South Korea in 2017 after then-President Moon Jae-in agreed to host a US anti-missile system. Moon’s successor, President Yoon Suk Yeol, has angered Beijing in recent months by pledging to work more closely with the United States, including expanding the missile shield.

South Korea said in late December that it would require COVID-19 tests for all travelers from China by the end of February and would limit the issuance of short-term visas until the end of January. It also suspended the further increase in the number of flights from China and directed existing flights to a single airport.

China had warned earlier this month that it would fight back against such measures and Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Monday raised concerns about South Korea’s travel restrictions to his Korean counterpart Park Jin, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. .

Source: Gestion

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