China shelves port visas and visa-free transit for Japanese and South Koreans

A day after suspending regular visa applications for travellers from the two countries, Beijing imposes more retaliatory restrictions

Tokyo says latest limits on travellers are ‘political’, asks Beijing to withdraw the measures

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Japan has requested travellers from China to provide negative results from a PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 6:41pm, 11 Jan 2023Updated: 9:12pm, 11 Jan 2023

Beijing has suspended port visas and visa-tree transit for Japanese and South Koreans in retaliation for Covid-related curbs on travellers from China.

A day after announcing the suspension of regular visa applications for Japanese and South Korean citizens on Tuesday, Beijing also shelved port visas – those applied and granted immediately at the border – and its visa-free transit policy, which allows visitors from the two countries to stay in China for up to six days.

The restrictions were the first retaliatory measures Beijing has taken in response to curbs on Chinese travellers imposed by more than a dozen countries since December.

Japan on Wednesday criticised China’s pause on visa applications for Japanese citizens as “lacking reciprocity”.

Japan has asked travellers from China to provide negative results from a PCR test taken within 72 hours before departure. It has also cancelled flights from China to certain Japanese cities.

The Japanese mission in China asserted that such measures were because of the Covid-19 pandemic and that China’s claims of discrimination were “untrue”.

“However, China has restricted visa issuance for political reasons unrelated to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are regretful for this and have protested through diplomatic channels, demanding that China withdraw this measure,” the office posted on Twitter on Wednesday.