Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during an Upper House plenary session on March 6 (The Asahi Shimbun)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to impose tighter restrictions on the entry of people from China or South Korea represents yet another abrupt change in policy.

Abe failed to offer a convincing explanation about the necessity and effectiveness of the radical step. Even though he said the move is aimed at “alleviating public anxiety” over the coronavirus epidemic, it just as likely will raise the level of confusion among people.

The measures Abe announced March 5 include invalidating visas already issued to Chinese and South Korean nationals and imposing a two-week quarantine on all arrivals from the two countries at designated facilities.

The government had already introduced an entry ban on travelers who had been in China’s Hubei province, where Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, is located, and Zhejiang province two weeks prior to arriving in Japan. It also extended that measure to those who visited South Korea’s Daegu city, home to the vast majority of confirmed cases in the country, and surrounding areas.

In China, the spread of the novel coronavirus is slowing outside Wuhan, while in South Korea not all areas are seriously affected.

These facts cast doubt on the wisdom of imposing travel restrictions on all visitors from these countries. The measure is also inconsistent with the government’s responses to the explosive growth in cases in Italy and Iran.

The government’s basic policy for dealing with the public health crisis adopted in late February called for a shift in the strategy from keeping the virus from entering Japan to reining in the expansion of the epidemic at home.

The latest measure seems to be at odds with this policy. Expanding the border control could divert public health care resources, such as quarantine officers, from higher priority efforts for disease mitigation at home.

There are no signs that Abe sought counsel from the government’s expert advisory panel on this matter in advance.

This represents another “political decision” not based on solid science Abe has made in response to the outbreak following his equally abrupt decision to seek the cancellation of large-scale events and nationwide school closures.

The travel restrictions are likely to deliver an additional blow to the Japanese economy and society by stopping the inflows of Chinese and South Korean tourists, whose numbers have already fallen steeply, and even causing human interactions for business purposes to dwindle.

Abe announced the new travel restrictions at a meeting of the government’s special task force for responding to the epidemic, describing the enhanced border control as “a bold and decisive” measure.

Abe may be trying to demonstrate to both domestic and overseas audiences that he is ready to exercise strong leadership and take drastic action, if necessary.

There has been a drumbeat of calls for a travel ban on all visitors from China among conservative voters, Abe’s core support base. He has been criticized by these voters for taking “a lenient stance” toward China.

The move came immediately after the announcement that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit to Japan in April had been postponed. If the decision was designed to play to his supporters, Abe should be criticized for allowing his policy efforts in handling the crisis to be influenced by political motives.

Abe is also seeking to enact a revision to expand the scope of a law that took effect in 2013 to cope with outbreaks of new types of influenza to give him more power to deal directly with the coronavirus epidemic. The revision would empower the prime minister to declare a state of emergency under certain circumstances, a step that would allow the government to take stronger measures entailing restrictions on human rights.

But it would be dangerous to give such powers to a prime minister who has made many political decisions that are not based on rational reasoning or a transparent process.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 7

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