Photo/Illutration Passengers wait in line to take a novel coronavirus antigen test at Narita Airport in Tokyo on Dec. 30. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

China has made a mistake by taking unilateral retaliatory action against the moves by Japan and South Korea to tighten border restrictions on travelers from China.

Beijing should first offer adequate explanations and detailed information about the current novel coronavirus infection situation at home.

China’s action could also undermine international cooperation to fight the pandemic.

The Chinese government has suspended issuing visas for Japanese and South Korean travelers to China.

“Regrettably, a handful of countries, in disregard of science, facts and their actual epidemic situation, have insisted on taking discriminatory entry restriction measures targeting China,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. “China firmly rejects this and will take reciprocal measures.”

Clearly, Beijing is retaliating against the COVID-19 testing requirements on travelers from China imposed by the two countries.

Since the government radically eased its draconian zero-COVID policy, which strictly restricted people’s activities, in December, new cases have been skyrocketing. The numbers of deaths appear to have been sizable.

The situation could even worsen before it gets better. The expected rush to return home for the Lunar New Year could spread the virus in rural areas with underdeveloped health care infrastructure.

Given the wave of new infections in China, Tokyo’s decision to require all travelers from the country to undergo a virus test on arrival and present a certificate of a negative test result is considered a necessary temporary measure.

Since Japan has not banned the entry of Chinese travelers, Beijing’s criticism of the measure as “discriminatory” is off the mark.

The real problem is that the status of outbreaks in China is unclear.

The government has stopped tracking and announcing the total daily numbers of new cases and reported unbelievable numbers of deaths, such as only several per day.

The World Health Organization has said China was underreporting deaths.

Chinese state media have been promoting the official narrative that President Xi Jinping has rightly led the decision to lift the zero-COVD policy.

China seems to be overreacting to the moves by Tokyo and Seoul as foreign governments raising doubts about that explanation.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman also said, “COVID response should not be used as a pretext for political manipulation.”

But it is the Chinese government that is engaged in political manipulation to save the administration’s face.

China’s retaliatory actions, which resemble reprisals against economic sanctions, are at odds with the objectives of efforts to prevent infections and are totally unacceptable.

But Japan and South Korea should refrain from taking actions that would escalate the spat, such as responding to China’s retaliatory steps with countermeasures.

There are probably not many Japanese planning to visit China at this time of year. However, if Beijing continues to refuse to issue visas to Japanese who really need to travel to China for studying or business or because of transfers to the country, the bilateral relationship could be negatively affected.

China needs to fulfill its responsibility to the international community by disclosing information about infections at home.

Japan, for its part, should provide careful explanations about why it needs to take border restrictions on Chinese travelers and make tenacious efforts to convince China that a withholding of visas from Japanese travelers will not serve its own interests.

The Japanese government needs to make useful diplomatic efforts to ensure that the flow of people between the two neighbors will return to normal as soon as possible.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 12

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