Europe is headed for a collision with China over the COVID-19 disaster

BRUSSELS — The European Union and China neared a political standoff within the COVID-19 disaster on Tuesday, with Beijing vehemently against journey restrictions some EU states have launched that may very well be widened within the coming days.

An EU supply of support, together with vaccine donations, was additionally all however crushed, with Beijing insisting the state of affairs was “underneath management” and medical provides “ample,” authorities spokesman Mao Ning mentioned.

And because the 27-nation bloc drew nearer to imposing some type of restrictions on vacationers from China, Beijing threatened countermeasures.

“We firmly oppose makes an attempt to govern the COVID measures for political ends and can take countermeasures based mostly on the precept of reciprocity,” Mao mentioned.

Nonetheless, the EU appeared decided to take some type of joint motion to make sure incoming passengers from China would not port any potential new variants to the continent.

A particular EU well being safety committee, which included representatives from EU member states, mentioned doable measures on Tuesday, and EU spokesman Tim McPhie mentioned that “the overwhelming majority of nations are in favor of pre-departure testing” in China.

Proceed studying: China’s beautiful zero-COVID about-face takes Xi Jinping from suffocating management to callous inaction

Sweden, which holds the EU Council Presidency, additionally mentioned in an announcement that “vacationers from China have to be ready for short-term choices”.

Fearing being caught off guard like at the beginning of the worldwide pandemic in early 2020, the EU Built-in Political Disaster Response Group is now on account of determine on Wednesday whether or not to introduce EU-wide entry guidelines for China.

A number of member nations introduced particular person efforts prior to now week. On the identical time, the EU’s European Middle for Illness Prevention and Management insisted that the state of affairs in China doesn’t pose a direct public well being risk.

“The variants circulating in China are already circulating within the EU and as such don’t pose a problem to the immune responses” of EU residents, in keeping with their newest affect research printed on Tuesday. Different scientists have additionally mentioned journey restrictions would have little affect on containing the illness, however in addition they insisted on the worth of searching for doable variants not presently in Europe.

Over the previous week, EU international locations have responded to the disaster in China with a chaotic cascade of nationwide measures, largely ignoring an earlier pledge to behave collectively.

Italy was the primary EU member to require coronavirus checks for airline passengers from China, however a number of others mentioned such measures will not be the most suitable choice to guard native populations as new variants now arriving from China already are current in Europe, usually for a lot of months.

Proceed studying: China’s Zero COVID Lure

France, Spain and Italy have already introduced impartial measures to implement stricter COVID-19 guidelines for passengers arriving from China.

The French authorities is requiring unfavorable checks and urging French residents to keep away from pointless journey to China. France can be reintroducing the masks requirement on flights from China to France.

The Spanish authorities mentioned it could require unfavorable checks or proof of vaccination from all passengers arriving from China.

America has introduced new testing necessities for all vacationers from China, becoming a member of some Asian international locations which have imposed restrictions on account of a surge in infections.

White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned Tuesday that “there is no such thing as a cause for retaliation” by Beijing for international locations that “take prudent well being measures to guard their residents” with COVID-related journey restrictions for vacationers from China. She mentioned the restrictions had been “based mostly on public well being and science”.

AP video producer Liu Zheng contributed from Beijing.

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