The COVID-19 limitations that some nations have placed on its tourists are not backed by research, according to China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning, who also noted that the government is ready to take punitive measures.
In response to inquiries at a news conference in Beijing, Mao stated that China is willing to cooperate with any nation to allay their concerns about Chinese tourists visiting other nations at a time when COVID-19 is on the rise, but claimed that some of the restrictions are based on political considerations.
According to Mao, "We don't think the entrance restrictions that certain nations have taken against China are founded on science."
"Some of these actions are just out of scale and inappropriate. We categorically condemn the use of COVID measures for political ends and will implement reciprocal actions in response to various circumstances."
Concerns regarding visitors from the communist nation have been raised by the United States and other Western countries due to China's alleged failure to be transparent about COVID-19 instances among its residents.
Additional COVID-19 tests for tourists traveling from China, according to the European Union, would be "unjustified," they stated last week.
After a flight from China to Milan's Malpensa Airport on December 26 revealed that 52% of the passengers tested positive for COVID-19, Italy deviated from the EU and started demanding antigen swabs for all travelers arriving from China.
Last week, the United States and Britain announced additional travel restrictions for Chinese nationals, stating that starting on January 5, anybody traveling into China from the territories of Hong Kong and Macau would need to have a pre-departure COVID-19 test that was negative.
China-bound tourists would be subject to certain restrictions and monitoring, according to statements made by Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan.
Australia will join Canada on Monday in requiring a negative COVID-19 test for Chinese passengers, which Canada announced on Saturday.
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, refuted the idea that the new ban was motivated by politics when questioned about the remarks made by China.
During a news conference on Tuesday, he said, "This is an approach that is based totally and exclusively on research."
"We're taking deliberate, proactive steps to slow the spread of COVID-19, and to be on alert for any potential COVID-19 variants emerging," he said, using the initials of the country's official name, the People's Republic of China. "Due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in the PRC, and the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data being reported from the PRC."
Price noted that China has frequently rejected offers from the US and other countries to provide it with vaccinations and other COVID-19 help.
The PRC has said in the open that it appreciates the offer but does not need the assistance, he continued. We are still standing by that offer.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in China has reached a record 250 million over the last month, with 9,000 fatalities every day. The sharp surge followed the nation's beginning to relax its zero-tolerance COVID rules as a result of widespread public outcry.
