Zhao Lijian Photo: VCG

 
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday slammed the US of ignoring passengers' health and safety and being arrogant, unreasonable and extremely irresponsible, after the country issued an order on Friday to suspend 44 flights of four Chinese airlines as an attempt to shift blame to China's "circuit breaker" measures on preventing the coronavirus.

China urged the US to respect science and safeguard life, strengthen epidemic preventive measures domestically, stop politicizing the matter of COVID-19 preventive measures related to flights, and stop interfering with normal personnel exchanges between China and the US, Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at Monday's press briefing.
 
The US sought special treatment for its own selfish interests, and cancelled flights carried by Chinese airlines without reason, disturbing these companies' normal operation, Zhao said. The four Chinese airlines are Xiamen Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines. 

Zhao reiterated that China implemented circuit breaker measures to international flights entering China from June 2020 in order to block cross-border COVID-19 spread and protect people's health and safety, as a way to consider the interests of all parties.  

The measures China adopted have been carried out to both domestic and international airlines in a fair, open and transparent way, and they haven't violated relevant bilateral air service agreements, according to Zhao. 

The facts prove that the measures have played an important role in blocking the spread of the virus, and they have been respected and cooperated with by most airlines.

Zhao urged the US to strengthen international communication and cooperation to effectively prevent the cross-border spread of COVID-19 and strive for a victory over the pandemic soon.