China has suspended issuing some visas for South Korea and Japan in Beijing’s first retaliation against Covid-related curbs on Chinese travellers.
Chinese consulates in South Korea will stop issuing short-term visas for visits, business, tourism, medical care, transit and personal matters from Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said in a statement. The suspension will be adjusted if South Korea removes its “discriminative inbound restrictive measures” targeting China, it added.
China also suspended visa issuance to Japanese travellers, Kyodo reported, citing unidentified people in the travel industry.
The moves represent China’s first attempt at retaliation after a number of countries recently adopted testing requirements for travellers from the country. The dismantling of China’s zero-Covid policy after almost three years has sparked a deluge of infections that, combined with a lack of information about how many people are sick or dying, has raised concerns over the possibility that new strains of the coronavirus will emerge.
Shares of some South Korean companies linked to travel and tourism slid in afternoon trading on Tuesday, with the cosmetics maker Amorepacific Corp falling as much as 6.2% and Korean Air slipping 1.3%.
“The Korean government’s strengthened prevention measures for entrants from China are based on scientific and objective grounds,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk said in a briefing.
“The government has been transparently sharing relevant information with the international community, and has continued to communicate with the Chinese side.”
China had warned earlier this month that it would hit back against such moves and Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Monday expressed concerns about South Korean travel curbs to his Korean counterpart Park Jin, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Manhunt
One Chinese national who tested positive on arriving in Seoul refused to quarantine and fled, sparking a two-day manhunt that dominated South Korean headlines.
Police eventually found the Chinese national, who was not identified, but was described as a medical tourist. The visitor will be questioned this week over the infraction, local media reported.
According to official figures, 2,224 Chinese nationals on short-term visas have landed in South Korea since Jan 2, with 17.5% testing positive on arrival.
South Korea has limited its own issuance of short-term visas for Chinese nationals to public officials, diplomats, and those with crucial humanitarian and business purposes until the end of January.
All flights from the country are also now required to land at Incheon International Airport, the country’s main gateway.
Jeju Island, which has its own international airport and separate visa entry regime, had been a popular tourist destination for Chinese arrivals before the pandemic.
Japan, meanwhile, will include travellers flying directly from Macau when applying rules on entry from China, which require showing proof of a negative Covid test pre-departure.
A travel agency in Tokyo told Kyodo News on Tuesday that it could not apply for almost any type of Chinese visa. Reservations for visa procedures also became unavailable through the Chinese Visa Application Service Center website.
The latest step is thought to affect Japanese business operations in China, with workers unable to travel from Japan.
