BEIJING听–听Chinese state media defended on Wednesday the retaliatory measures听补驳补颈苍蝉迟听厂辞耻迟丑听碍辞谤别补听and听闯补辫补苍听over their听颁翱痴滨顿-19 travel听肠耻谤产蝉听as “reasonable”, while Chinese tourists decried Seoul’s “insulting” treatment on social media.
颁丑颈苍补听re-opened听颈迟蝉听borders on Sunday after three years of isolation under the world’s strictest regime of听颁翱痴滨顿聽restrictions, which Beijing abruptly began dismantling in early December after historic protests.
With the virus spreading unchecked among听颁丑颈苍补‘s 1.4 billion people after the policy U-turn, some foreign governments have raised concerns about the scale and impact of the outbreak, with the World Health Organization saying deaths are underreported.
In a first,听颁丑颈苍补‘s health authorities – which have been reporting five or fewer deaths a day over the past month, numbers that are inconsistent with the long queues seen at funeral homes – did not report听颁翱痴滨顿聽fatalities data on Tuesday.
China‘s Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the country’s National Health Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
More than a dozen聽,听including the United States, Australia and some European Union members, imposed at the start of the year requirements for pre-departure negative test results from visitors from听颁丑颈苍补.
Among them,聽厂辞耻迟丑听碍辞谤别补听and听闯补辫补苍听have also limited flights and require tests on arrival, with passengers showing up as positive being sent to quarantine.
In response, the Chinese embassies in Seoul and Tokyo said on Tuesday they had suspended issuing short-term visas for travelers to听颁丑颈苍补, with the foreign ministry slamming the testing requirements as “discriminatory.”
颁丑颈苍补听requires negative test results from visitors from all countries.
State-run nationalist tabloid Global Times defended Beijing’s听谤别迟补濒颈补迟颈辞苍听as a “direct and reasonable response to protect听颈迟蝉听own legitimate interests, particularly after some countries are continuing hyping up听颁丑颈苍补‘s epidemic situation by putting travel restrictions for political manipulation.”
厂辞耻迟丑听Korean foreign minister Park Jin has said the country’s decision was based on scientific evidence.听闯补辫补苍听听迟辞聽颁丑颈苍补听over听颈迟蝉听suspending the issuance of visas for听闯补辫补苍ese citizens.
‘INSULTING’
Chinese social media anger mainly targeted聽厂辞耻迟丑听Korea, whose border measures are聽聽among the countries that announced new rules.
Flights can only land at Incheon International Airport and those who test positive on arrival are sent to a designated quarantine facility for seven days at their own cost.
Videos circulating online showed special lanes coordinated by soldiers in uniform for arrivals from聽颁丑颈苍补听at the airport, with travelers given yellow lanyards with QR codes for processing test results.
One user of听颁丑颈苍补‘s Twitter-like Weibo said singling out Chinese travelers was “insulting” and akin to “people treated as criminals and paraded on the streets.”
Global Times reserved a separate article for聽厂辞耻迟丑听Korea, saying the measures made Chinese people suspicious that Seoul was putting up a “political show.”
“Seoul should not be surprised by听颁丑颈苍补‘s countermeasures,” it said in the article, which also criticized “very poor” quarantine conditions.
The tensions hurt share prices of聽厂辞耻迟丑听Korean companies with exposure to听颁丑颈苍补, including cosmetics makers LG H&H and Amorepacific.
Annual spending by Chinese tourists abroad reached $250 billion before the pandemic, with聽厂辞耻迟丑听碍辞谤别补听and听闯补辫补苍听among the top shopping destinations.
颁翱痴滨顿听DRUGS
颁丑颈苍补听is working to add new drugs to听颈迟蝉听COVID-fighting arsenal, including Pfizer鈥檚 Paxlovid and Merck鈥檚 oral drug molnupiravir, which was priced at 1,500 yuan ($221.21) per bottle in Tianjin, according to the northern Chinese city’s medical purchasing center on Tuesday.
Merck has a deal for听颁丑颈苍补‘s Sinopharm听迟辞 import and distribute the medication. The Chinese firm’s vice president said the drug could be ready for sale聽, according to local media.
Because of a severe antivirals shortages in听颁丑颈苍补, many people have turned to underground channels to secure drugs, according to domestic media. Scalpers charge as much as 50,000 yuan for a box of Paxlovid, more than 20 times听颈迟蝉听original price.
Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Monday the company was聽聽with Chinese authorities about a price for Paxlovid, but not over licensing a聽听颈苍听颁丑颈苍补.
The sudden dismantling of听颁丑颈苍补‘s “zero听颁翱痴滨顿” regime has caught pharmacies understocked and forced local pharmaceutical firms to extend working hours to meet demand. It has聽also overwhelmed hospitals and crematoria across the country.
Although international health experts have predicted at least one million听颁翱痴滨顿-related deaths this year,聽颁丑颈苍补听has reported just over 5,000 since the pandemic began, a fraction of what much less populous countries have reported as they reopened.
颁丑颈苍补听says it has been transparent with听颈迟蝉听data.
State media said the听颁翱痴滨顿聽wave was already past听颈迟蝉听peak in the provinces of Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan and Hainan, as well as in the large cities of Beijing and Chongqing – home to more than 500 million people combined. – Reuters
