The Chinese government announced Tuesday that it has suspended the issuance of visas for citizens from Japan in response to measures imposed by the Japanese authorities to restrict the entry of people from Chinese territory in the face of an increase in coronavirus cases.
The suspension, which has been notified to all travel agencies in Japan, comes after the Asian giant’s embassy in South Korea announced a similar measure shortly before, also until «discriminatory entry measures imposed against China are lifted».
After Beijing reopened its borders and lifted quarantine measures last weekend, Japan introduced further restrictions at its border, especially in view of the possibility of citizens from China arriving in the country. To this end, it has introduced mandatory negative COVID-19 tests.
Thus, the possibility of applying for visas to China through the official website has been hampered, according to reports from the Japanese news agency Kiodo. This could affect Japanese businesses in particular, given the impossibility for their workers to travel to China.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang expressed on Monday his concern about the situation in the region and the increase of restrictive measures against Chinese citizens and tourists, and has asked third country authorities to focus on «scientific issues» when imposing these measures.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
