China imposes transit curbs for S.Korea, Japan in growing COVID spat - Reuters

BEIJING, Jan 11 (Reuters) - China introduced transit curbs for South Korean and Japanese nationals connected Wednesday, successful an escalating diplomatic spat implicit COVID-19 curbs that is marring the expansive re-opening of the world's second-largest system aft 3 years of isolation.

China removed quarantine mandates for inbound travellers connected Sunday, 1 of the past vestiges of the world's strictest authorities of COVID restrictions, which Beijing abruptly began dismantling successful aboriginal December aft historical protests.

But worries implicit the standard and interaction of the outbreak successful China, wherever the microorganism is spreading unchecked, person prompted much than a twelve countries to request antagonistic COVID trial results from radical arriving from China.

Among them, South Korea and Japan person besides constricted flights and necessitate tests connected arrival, with passengers showing up arsenic affirmative being sent to quarantine. In South Korea, quarantine is astatine the traveller's ain cost.

In response, the Chinese embassies successful Seoul and Tokyo said connected Tuesday they had suspended issuing short-term visas for travellers to China, with the overseas ministry slamming the investigating requirements arsenic "discriminatory."

That prompted an authoritative protest from Japan to China, portion South Korean overseas curate Park Jin said that Seoul's determination was based connected technological evidence, not discriminatory and that China's countermeasures were "deeply regrettable."

In a motion of escalating tensions connected Wednesday, China's migration authorization suspended its transit visa exemptions for South Koreans and Japanese.

The spat whitethorn impact economical relations betwixt the 3 neighbours arsenic well.

Japanese section store relation Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd (3099.T) and supermarket relation Aeon Co (8267.T) said they whitethorn person to rethink unit transfers to China depending connected however agelong the suspension lasts.

"We won't beryllium capable to marque short-term concern trips, but specified trips had dwindled during COVID anyway, truthful we don't expect an contiguous impact. But if the concern lasts long, determination volition beryllium an effect," said a South Korean spot manufacture root who declined to beryllium identified, arsenic the idiosyncratic was not authorised to talk to media.

China requires antagonistic trial results from visitors from each countries.

COUNTING DEATHS

Some of the governments that announced curbs connected travellers from China cited concerns implicit Beijing's information transparency.

The World Health Organization has said China was underreporting deaths.

China's wellness authorities person been reporting 5 oregon less deaths a time implicit the past month, numbers that are inconsistent with the agelong queues seen astatine ceremonial homes. In a first, they did not study COVID fatalities information connected Tuesday.

China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Health Commission did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Without mentioning whether regular reporting had been discontinued, Liang Wannian, caput of a COVID adept sheet nether the nationalist wellness authority, told reporters deaths tin lone beryllium accurately counted aft the pandemic is over.

China should yet find decease figures by looking astatine excess mortality, Wang Guiqiang, the caput of the infectious diseases section astatine Peking University First Hospital said astatine the aforesaid quality conference.

Although planetary wellness experts person predicted astatine slightest 1 cardinal COVID-related deaths this year, China has reported conscionable implicit 5,000 since the pandemic began, a fraction of what different countries person reported arsenic they reopened.

China says it has been transparent with its data.

State media said the COVID question was already past its highest successful the provinces of Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan and Hainan, arsenic good arsenic successful the ample cities of Beijing and Chongqing - location to much than 500 cardinal radical combined.

'INSULTING'

On Wednesday, Chinese authorities media devoted extended sum of what they called arsenic "discriminatory" borderline rules successful South Korea and Japan.

Nationalist tabloid Global Times defended Beijing's retaliation arsenic a "direct and tenable effect to support its ain morganatic interests, peculiarly aft immoderate countries are continuing hyping up China's epidemic concern by putting question restrictions for governmental manipulation."

Chinese societal media choler chiefly targeted South Korea, whose borderline measures are the strictest among the countries that announced caller rules.

Videos circulating online showed peculiar lanes coordinated by soldiers successful azygous for arrivals from China astatine the airport, with travellers fixed yellowish lanyards with QR codes for processing trial results.

One idiosyncratic of China's Twitter-like Weibo said singling retired Chinese travellers was "insulting" and akin to "people treated arsenic criminals and paraded connected the streets."

Annual spending by Chinese tourists overseas reached $250 cardinal earlier the pandemic, with South Korea and Japan among the apical buying destinations.

Repeated lockdowns person hammered China's $17 trillion economy. The World Bank estimated its 2022 maturation slumped to 2.7%, its second-slowest gait since the mid-1970s aft 2020.

It predicted a rebound to 4.3% for 2023, but that is 0.9 percent points beneath its June forecast due to the fact that of the severity of COVID disruptions and weakening outer demand.

($1 = 6.7666 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Kaori Kaneko, Mari Shiraki and Elaine Lies successful Tokyo; Joyce Lee, Hyunsu Yim and Heekyong Yang successful Seoul Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Gerry Doyle and Kim Coghill

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.