Japan, South Korea protest China visa stoppage in COVID spat

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and South Korea defended their public health restrictions on travelers from China on Wednesday, a day after China stopped issuing new visas in both countries in apparent retaliation.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said he finds it “significantly regrettable” that China stopped issuing short-term visas to South Koreans and called for China to align its pandemic steps with “scientific and objective facts.”

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno criticized China for “one-sidedly” restricting visa issuances to Japanese nationals “because of a reason that is not related to COVID-19 measures.”

China’s Foreign Ministry threatened countermeasures last week against countries that had announced new virus testing requirements for travelers from China following a surge in COVID-19 infections there. It remained unclear whether China would expand the visa suspensions to others that have imposed stricter virus testing on passengers from China.

South Korea has stopped issuing most short-term visas at its consulates in China through the end of January while also requiring all passengers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao to submit proofs of negative tests taken within 48 hours of their arrival in addition to COVID-19 tests at the airport.

According to South Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency, about 17% of the 2,550 short-term travelers from China from Jan. 2 to Tuesday have tested positive.

Japan demanded China scrap the measures, Matsuno said, and will “respond appropriately while closely watching China’s infection situation and how information disclosures are handled by the Chinese side."

Japan had to take temporary measures to avoid a rapid inflow of infections because of China’s spreading outbreaks and lack of transparency...