The United States, Italy, Japan, India and Taiwan introduce testing requirements for travelers from China as the country reopens its borders. The United States requires Chinese travelers to have a recent negative test result more than 48 hours old, and other countries will test upon arrival. Infected persons must be quarantined.

The five countries will analyze the genetic makeup of the mutation samples. The Chinese government no longer publishes infection numbers and maintains an incredibly low death toll. According to leaked government estimates, there will be 37 million infections per day.

These measures come on the heels of Beijing’s decision to abolish hotel quarantine for inbound travelers from January 8. This is expected to boost Chinese tourism, especially now that China is grappling with the coronavirus wave. Before Corona, 150 million Chinese traveled abroad annually.

The Chinese government stated in a response that travel restrictions should be “proportionate and science-based” and “should not disrupt the movement of people”. Beijing ignores the fact that it has imposed weeks of quarantine on travelers for years and continues to demand a negative test result after January 8. Beijing said Western media reporting negatively about the COVID-19 epidemic were spreading “slanders full of bias and political manipulation”.

Not many ordinary Chinese seem to share this outrage. Strikingly sharp comments appeared on social media Thursday, in which Chinese netizens accuse their government of hypocrisy. Rather than pointing fingers abroad, the government should pay more attention to the virus’s catastrophe, it seemed.