China has expressed concern and dissatisfaction at the reported US bid to allow its diplomats to exit the country because of existing Covid pandemic-related restrictions.
The Chinese foreign ministry on Wednesday said the pandemic control measures in China were in line with global conventions of diplomatic protocol and leaving the country would increase the risk of infection for US personnel and family.
The foreign ministry was reacting to a Reuters report from Washington, which said the US state department was considering whether to authorise departures for American diplomats and their families in China wishing to leave because of intrusive pandemic control measures.
“Two sources familiar with the issue said the US Embassy on Monday had sent the request to Washington for formal sign off, as China ramps up Covid-19 containment protocols ahead of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics in less than two weeks,” the Reuters report said.
The foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the decision was puzzling. “China is undoubtedly the safest country in the world at the moment, and withdrawing from the safest place will only greatly increase the risk of infection for US personnel. The logic of the US side’s decision is incomprehensible and difficult to justify,” he added.
Zhao said China’s pandemic control measures were in line with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
He added that China’s Covid-19 prevention and control measures were rigorous, scientific and effective, and have well protected foreign nationals in China.
China had expressed “concern and dissatisfaction” to the US and hoped the embassy would reconsider the action, Zhao added.
An unnamed person told Reuters that the US embassy conducted an internal survey showing that as many as 25% of staff and family members would choose to leave China as soon as possible.
The tabloid Global Times, carried a story on the development, headlined: “Dirty trick again! US plots to authorise departure of staff from embassies in China over epidemic ahead of Beijing Olympics”.
“Such tricks ahead of the Chinese New Year and the Games showed its true intention, which is beyond the anti-epidemic consideration but only serves to create panic, slander China’s anti-epidemic work and disrupt China’s successful hosting of the Winter Olympics,” the report said.
Washington is leading several allied and partner countries in a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games, scheduled to begin on February 4, due to what it says is Beijing’s ongoing genocide towards Uighurs and other Muslim groups in its western region of Xinjiang.
China has brought the Covid-19 pandemic under control since it emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late, 2019 despite sporadic outbreaks including an ongoing one, a mix of Omicron and Delta variants.
As of Tuesday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, both local and imported (ones detected among those flying in from abroad, mostly Chinese nationals), reported on the Chinese mainland had reached 105,749; the deaths stood at 4,636.
The US has recorded more than 72 million coronavirus cases and a death toll of 891,595.
