COVID response should not be used as a pretext for political manipulation: MFA

COVID response should not be used as a pretext for political manipulation, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Since China announced the decision to manage COVID-19 with measures against Class-B infectious diseases and adopted provisional measures on cross-border travel, many countries have expressed their welcome, but a few countries have announced entry restriction measures targeting travelers from China, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson (MFA) Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing in Beijing, when responding to a question about China suspending visa issuance to Japanese citizens.

Wang said that with the utmost sincerity, the Chinese side had fact-based communication with the countries concerned and elaborated on our science-based and reasonable COVID measures refinement and China's current COVID situation.

"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," Wang said, adding that China firmly rejects this and will take reciprocal measures.

We once again call on relevant countries to make sure that their COVID response measures are fact-based, science-based and proportionate, the spokesperson said.

COVID response should not be discriminatory and should not affect normal cross-border travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation, he added.