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Coronavirus pandemic
OpinionComment
James Liang
James Liang

Opinion | Coronavirus travel bans: shutting the door on China now will hurt goodwill and cooperation in the future

  • A blanket travel ban on Chinese nationals is too radical and treats all of China as an epidemic-stricken region
  • Such an attitude will only compromise cooperation with China, and turn off Chinese visitors, including overseas students unable to return to their universities in time

Reading Time:4 minutes
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Illustration: Craig Stephens
James Liang

In response to the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), at least 62 countries have implemented immigration restrictions to help contain the infection globally. There are some striking disparities in the scope of their restrictions.

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A list by the consular department of China’s foreign affairs ministry divides these restrictions into three main categories.

Category I restrictions are the strictest and bar entry to all Chinese nationals and foreign nationals who have been in China over the past fortnight, with measures that include the refusal of visas and quarantine. North Korea, for example, also specifically bars government delegations. The other countries in this category include the United States, Australia, Singapore, Russia and Mongolia.
Category II restrictions apply only to travellers who have recently been to Hubei. Japan and South Korea, for example, bars foreigners who have been to the province. Given that each of these countries have more confirmed cases of the new coronavirus than the US, this policy seems relatively moderate. Malaysia, too, has barred Hubei residents from entering the country. For all other Chinese tourists, a temperature test must be taken at the border.

Category III restrictions, which have been adopted by most countries, include border health checks and health declaration requirements, and have been introduced in Britain, Germany and France, among other countries. Instead of denying entry to Chinese nationals, screening measures such as temperature tests are conducted at the border, with symptomatic individuals isolated and individually examined.

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