China has called out what it says are ‘unnecessary restrictions’ on outbound travellers, noting that Australia’s Chief Medical Officer agreed.
While the decision to enforce mandatory testing for travellers entering Australia from China is in line with the measures adopted by other countries, the Minister for Health and Aged Care’s call has been labelled a discriminatory reaction by Chinese authorities.
In a press conference on 3 January 2023 (the same day that Australia informed the Chinese government of its intentions), foreign ministry spokesperson Miss Mao Ning said that China did not believe that the entry restriction measures some countries had implemented were science-based.
“Some of these measures are disproportionate and simply unacceptable. We firmly reject using COVID measures for political purposes and will take corresponding measures in response to varying situations based on the principle of reciprocity,” Miss Ning said.
“Health experts from many countries have said that the main variant now spreading in China has previously been found elsewhere already, and that a new variant can emerge anywhere on the planet, which means entry restrictions targeting China are unnecessary.
“China always believes that for all countries, COVID response measures need to be science-based and proportionate. They should not be used for political manipulation, there should not be discriminatory measures against certain countries, and measures should not affect normal travel and people-to-people exchange and cooperation.”
The criticism, while aimed at several countries who have imposed similar restrictions, including the US, UK, the EU, France, India, Canada, Japan, Spain, Italy, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Morocco, and Qatar, followed Minister Butler’s recognition on 1 January 2023, that Australia’s Chief Medical Officers had advised that the precautions were unnecessary.
“Over the past three days, I have received written and verbal briefings from the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly, about the emerging situation in China. Professor Kelly has also met with his state and territory colleagues, Chief Health Officers of all the jurisdictions to discuss that emerging situation,” Minister Butler said.
“There is a broad consensus among all the jurisdictional Chief Health Officers and Chief Medical Officers, that the resumption of travel between China and Australia poses no immediate public health threat to Australians.
“And it is clear from the Chief Health Officers advice that it appears that the Omicron sub-variant BF.7, that appears to be driving the wave right now in China has been present in Australia for several months, probably since the middle of 2021.”
Due to the lack of any specific threat posed by a new variant that may have emerged, Professor Kelly and his colleagues actually recommended that any restrictions on travel were unnecessary and inconsistent with Australia’s current approach to managing the pandemic.
Rather, the Chief Medical Officers provided ‘very clear advice’ about putting in place other, less intrusive measures such as testing the wastewater on aeroplanes travelling from China, reviewing, and strengthening community wastewater testing for new variants and an improved follow-up program for people who tested positive for COVID within two weeks of being overseas.
However, Minister Butler defended the government’s decision to impose the extra regulations, highlighting that the move was made ‘out of an abundance of caution.’
“We do not take these decisions lightly. We do not put these measures in place lightly. They are well-calibrated after we have taken advice from the Chief Medical Officer,” Mr Butler said.
“He has consulted with the Chief Health Officers, we have had a look at what is happening around the world in like countries, and we have paid particular attention to the views expressed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“But we are just concerned to make sure, as the WHO has said, if a new variant emerges in China, we have the earliest possible notice of that. And that is why I have taken this measure – out of an abundance of caution – along with a range of other measures the Chief Medical Officer has recommended to me.”