{"id":691384,"date":"2023-01-03T17:43:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T01:43:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=691384"},"modified":"2023-01-04T19:39:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T03:39:39","slug":"china-to-open-its-borders-marking-end-of-zero-covid-isolation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2023\/01\/china-to-open-its-borders-marking-end-of-zero-covid-isolation\/","title":{"rendered":"China To Open Its Borders, Marking End of Zero-COVID Isolation"},"content":{"rendered":"

China will drop quarantine requirements for international travelers starting January 8, 2023. The government also announced a host of other travel-easing measures. The changes effectively end China\u2019s three-year period of self-imposed semi-isolation, adopted to prevent the spread of coronavirus within its borders. The changes do not necessarily mark the advent of open travel to and from China, as a number of countries\u2014<\/span>notably, the United States and Japan<\/span><\/a>\u2014have instituted restrictions on Chinese travelers, ostensibly to control the spread of new variants that may emerge from China\u2019s ongoing COVID outbreak, which at its peak may have seen <\/span>37 million people infected<\/span><\/a> in a single day. At The New York Times, Chang Che, Claire Fu and Amy Chang Chien reported on <\/span>China\u2019s newly relaxed barriers to entry<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Immediately, bookings for flights surged as Chinese headed for the exits and planned long-delayed family reunions. Business groups and economists hailed the easing as an important step toward restoring confidence in China\u2019s prospects. On a popular social media site, the French Embassy in China <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>: \u201cChinese friends, France welcomes you with open arms!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

[…T]he loosening has unleashed massive pent-up demand. On Tuesday, a day after the changes were announced, bookings for flights from mainland China to popular destinations including Singapore, Japan and South Korea, rose threefold on Trip.com Group, a Chinese travel-booking company. Reservations for flights to the mainland increased fivefold, according to data provided by the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] Zhang Yuhan, a 26-year-old employee at a securities firm in Japan, said that after waking up to the news about the reopening, she immediately started searching for tickets while brushing her teeth and putting makeup on, to try to snag tickets before they sold out.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said she bought a one-way ticket to Jilin Province for the holiday to see her grandmother, who is recovering from surgery. This would be her first trip home in three years. [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Within China, most reactions to the measure were joyous. The announcement was followed by a surge in bookings for outbound travel from China. Trip.com, a Chinese travel booking website, reported that <\/span>flight bookings jumped 254% after the announcement<\/span><\/a>. Flights between China and the rest of the world are at only<\/span> 8% of pre-pandemic levels<\/span><\/a>, but international carriers are rushing to resume normal services. China\u2019s sometimes byzantine quarantine requirements deterred a number of people from attempting to visit family in the country. In one infamous 2022 case, a Los Angeles lawyer <\/span>spent three months in various quarantine facilities<\/span><\/a> across China before giving up and booking a flight back to the United States. At CNN, Jessie Yeung, Selina Wang, and Cheng Cheng reported on the rejoicing of families who were previously <\/span>deterred from reuniting by the exorbitant cost of plane tickets and lengthy quarantine periods under the old policy<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Finally, everybody can (live) their normal life,” said one Chinese national living in New York, who hasn’t been home for four years. She called the separation “very painful,” saying several of her family members and the beloved pet dog she grew up with had died during that time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her family “missed (my graduation). They missed so many things,” she said. “And I also missed so many things for my family. All my friends, they got married during the pandemic. Even some of them had babies. I feel like I missed everything, I missed the most important points in their lives.”<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] “It doesn’t matter if I can get back in time for Spring Festival,” said [May Ma, 28,] in South Korea, referring to Lunar New Year. “There is hope after all, I can bear waiting for a little while longer.” [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The change was also hailed by international students, many of whom have been barred from entering China since 2020. In 2018, there were <\/span>nearly 500,000 international students studying in China<\/span><\/a>. It is unclear how many remain enrolled at Chinese universities. At The Washington Post, Niha Masih and Joyce Lau reported on <\/span>the potential return of the tens of thousands of international students who have been denied entry into China since 2020<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside China, Monday\u2019s announcement gave hope to tens of thousands of international students who have spent nearly three years locked out of the country and the universities where they are enrolled. This group, which has been advocating under the hashtag #TakeUsBackToChina, has faced difficulty in receiving visas, booking flights or getting on to locked-down campuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] Shahroz Khan, 22, a medical student from India, had been studying in China when he returned to his home country in 2020. He had no idea that the Chinese border would remain closed for years and that he would not be able to return to campus. He ended up completing his degree online but still needs to return to China to complete an internship requirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the past 2\u00bd years, we have heard the same reply: Either there is a lockdown or restrictions or rise in cases,\u201d he said by phone from India.<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] \u201cThe inconsistent treatment of international students has been a soft-power failure for China,\u201d said Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank who is now chair of the Milken Institute Asia Center. [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although China\u2019s quarantine policy is set to end on January 8, inbound travelers have already protested against mandatory quarantine upon disembarking in China. At The Wall Street Journal, Sha Hua and Rachel Liang reported on <\/span>two Nanjing protests that forced authorities to concede to passengers\u2019 demands<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The group refused to board the bus that would have taken them to a hotel for five days of enforced isolation. After a back and forth during which some participants repeatedly chanted \u201cno quarantine,\u201d the authorities relented and let the travelers go home directly, said 21-year-old student Jessica Li, who flew into Nanjing from Seoul on Sunday evening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] A similar incident three hours later in the same city, this time involving passengers on a flight from Tokyo, ended with the travelers being allowed to go home after signing a pledge that they would be responsible for all risks associated with bypassing hotel quarantine, said 28-year-old Akira Wang, a marketing professional.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] Ms. Li, who spent the past six months studying in South Korea, said her fellow passengers organized themselves in a chat group on <\/span>WeChat<\/span><\/a>, China\u2019s do-everything app, before taking off and agreed to band together to head off a stay in quarantine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[…] Mr. Wang and his fellow travelers weren\u2019t initially as successful\u2014authorities forced them to board the quarantine bus at the airport. But when they arrived at the designated hotel, the passengers refused to enter. After a 90-minute debate, the staff backed down and allowed the group to go home once they had signed the agreement to accept all responsibility for skipping quarantine.\u00a0 [<\/span>Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Update: we got out. No quarantine, no nothing. Police just let us go after they realized we are not going to cave pic.twitter.com\/l3VVARHvzp<\/a><\/p>\n

— Yifan Yu (@YifanYuNews) December 29, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n