OPINION / VIEWPOINT
Scientific, not inveterate unhealthy mindset needed
Published: Jan 11, 2023 11:30 PM
Chinese passengers arrive at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand, Jan. 9, 2022. Thailand on Monday welcomed the arrival of thousands of Chinese tourists in its capital of Bangkok, the first group following China's optimization of COVID-19 strategy which took effect on Jan. 8.(Photo: Xinhua)

Chinese passengers arrive at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand, Jan. 9, 2022. Thailand on Monday welcomed the arrival of thousands of Chinese tourists in its capital of Bangkok, the first group following China's optimization of COVID-19 strategy which took effect on Jan. 8.(Photo: Xinhua)

While China has reopened its borders after three years of a hard battle against COVID-19, some countries have taken measures specifically against travelers arriving from China. 

Despite the fact that scientists and health experts from several countries, including Germany, Australia, and Canada, have called on  there is no need for specialized entry restrictions against China, , some countries have taken the opportunity to push for a "COVID-19 prevention wall" against China and play their old tricks of political maneuvers. States like Japan and South Korea even introduced discriminatory entry restriction measures targeting China, which include giving travelers from China a red or yellow card to hang around their necks to differentiate them from visitors from other countries.

Those countries imposing discriminatory restrictions against travelers from China obviously don't take a balanced and objective stance on China's COVID-19 prevention and control policies. They lack a healthy mindset about China's epidemic response, so they have made incorrect judgments about China.

It is obvious to most of the international community that China has played a vital role in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Over the past three years, the country has promoted awareness against the virus and technical guidance to the world, and such efforts are understood and praised by most countries.

But for some countries, particularly in the West, there has always been an intention to politicize and weaponize China's anti-COVID measures. Japan and South Korea have made an awful example: The restrictions they imposed on Chinese tourists were short-sighted and without reason or common sense. They also fail to see, or are unwilling to properly recognize, China's contribution to the global epidemic response. 

The Chinese government has adapted its policies to the actual situation both at home and in the world. This will strengthen the economic, cultural, and human exchanges between China and other parts of the world, which is also in line with globalization. What Japan and South Korea are doing is undoubtedly the opposite, and will only weaken their economic ties with China and the rest of the world.

In fact, this is not the first time some countries have targeted China over the epidemic issue. Three years ago, when COVID-19 cases surged in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, the US shut down the Consulate General in the city and withdrew its staff from China to the US, while clamoring for global traceability of the virus. Some countries also imposed restrictions on visitors from China.

Three years later, some countries are doing the same again. Obviously, these countries did not regard the epidemic as a global health issue. On the contrary, they regarded it as a geopolitical tool and a weapon of international struggle. Some countries have always had an inveterate habit of having an unhealthy mentality toward China when dealing with it.

Even more ridiculously, some countries thought this epidemic would only target China and have nothing to do with them. In the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the coronavirus outbreak could benefit the US. As a result, these nations slacked off on managing their own nationals, which resulted in the deaths of millions of people.

According to Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, some countries should learn that COVID-19 is not exclusive to a specific state, but rather the virus knows no borders and does not discriminate against anyone.

"If some countries target Chinese nationals with discriminatory measures, I don't think they will get any benefit. It will only hinder the interaction between countries and prevent the normal interaction between people from different countries," said Lü.

In response to South Korea and Japan, China's National Immigration Administration has temporarily suspended the issuance of port visas to South Korean and Japanese citizens, as well as transit visa exemption for 72 or 144 hours. This means that China's countermeasures against certain countries' extremely discriminatory entry restrictions have begun. Therefore, the countries who are trying to weaken and slander China's epidemic must be prepared for a backfire from Beijing.

China's response to the epidemic is scientific and recognized by the wider international community. The discriminatory restrictions some countries impose do not represent the mainstream voice of the international community. We hope these countries will give up their political bias and look at the epidemic scientifically. Slandering China will not solve the problem; instead, those nations will only suffer more setbacks in the future.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn