China shouldn't blame countries for imposing Covid-19 tests to keep their citizens safe
Beijing's suggestion that travel restrictions imposed by several countries on Chinese arrivals are politically motivated, and even discriminatory, is somewhat misplaced.
For these countries, some of which have good relations with China, the underlying principle is simply that it is better to be safe than sorry.
After China last month allowed outbound travel for its citizens, several countries said travellers from China must present a negative Covid-19 test taken within the previous 48 hours, and be subject to random testing on arrival.
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This prompted Beijing to lash out, calling the restrictions "discriminatory", amounting to "political manipulation" and not "science-based".
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Tuesday called the measures "disproportionate and simply unacceptable", even threatening retaliation.
In this case, is Beijing perhaps the one being "political"?
Sure, some of the countries that have imposed tougher measures on travellers from China are those that have encountered strategic, military or diplomatic difficulties with China in recent years.
These include the Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Japan and the United States.
But the list also includes Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Morocco and Qatar - friendlier countries that have no obvious beef with China and cannot be accused of playing politics.
In recent days, China described its relations with Israel and France in glowing terms: sharing "a time-honoured history and splendid culture" and relations that "have withstood the test of changes and chaos", respectively.
Ironically, it is the "friendlier" France that has called on all 26 other European Union member states to test Chinese travellers for Covid-19.
Morocco - the first North African country to sign a Belt and Road Initiative agreement with China - will impose a blanket ban on all travellers from China.
Whether "friendlier" or less so, most countries are genuinely concerned about a new wave of Covid-19 and mutations coming through their borders.
It is understandable they would prefer to play it safe, given the high rate of infections in China and concerns that cases and deaths there are being under-reported.
Calling the travel restrictions "understandable", the World Health Organization called on Beijing to share more data on genetic sequencing, as well as figures on hospitalisations, deaths and vaccinations.
Some health experts have argued that such travel restrictions are unnecessary or even ineffective.
But it should be remembered that during the longest global public health epidemic in recent memory, countries had different thresholds when it came to their acceptance of science and advice from health experts.
Since the start of the pandemic, numerous studies have shown that Covid could either have renewed or diminished trust in science, which has been largely maintained in Britain, according to a report commissioned by the UK Research and Innovation, the national funding agency investing in science and research.
But elsewhere, trust has been undermined due to the rapid evolution of the pandemic, mixed messaging from leaders, misinformation and polarisation, such as in the US, where only 29 per cent of US adults said they had a great deal of confidence in medical scientists, down from 40 per cent in November 2020, according to a Pew Research Center survey last year.
While China has argued that other countries' responses are not based on science, the same can be said of Beijing of its Covid responses.
For almost three years, the country undertook one of the world's most draconian policies, relying on mass testing, contact tracing, isolating the infected and lockdowns of entire cities.
Its zero-Covid stance included foreign visitors taking virus tests before boarding, being screened upon arrival and undergoing long quarantines.
Beijing initially dismissed an early warning about the looming coronavirus outbreak from one of its health experts, Dr Li Wenliang, and even reprimanded him. He later died from the disease.
Were those decisions guided by science?
Governments undertake what they perceive is in their countries' best interests based on various factors.
If China had justified its earlier policies based on its best interests, then it should not cry politics when other countries do the same.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
