China to Temporarily Ban Entry by Some Foreigners Over CCP Virus Concerns

People watch a plane of China Southern Airlines land at Beijing Capital International in Beijing as the country is hit by an outbreak of the CCP Virus, China, March 13, 2020. (Reuters/Thomas Peter)

The Chinese regime announced March 26 that it will temporarily bar entry to most foreign nationals in an effort to curb the spread of the CCP virus.

The ban will apply to foreign nationals holding visas or resident permits, and will take effect on March 28, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

But foreigners coming to China for “necessary economic, trade, scientific, or technological activities or out of emergency humanitarian needs” can still apply for visas, it stated. The curb also won’t apply to diplomatic workers.

With this move, China joins dozens of countries that have sealed their borders to foreigners amid the CCP virus pandemic. More than 100 countries have enacted travel restrictions or border closures since the global spread of the pathogen.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Since the emergence of the outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, the virus has spread to more than 190 countries and regions worldwide. It has infected more than 440,000 people and killed more than 20,000 outside of China.

Chinese authorities haven’t reported any domestic infections in six of the past eight days, claiming that most newly confirmed cases were infected people arriving from overseas. However, locals report a different situation on the ground, saying hospitals are still full of COVID-19 patients. Many expressed doubt over the claim of no new domestic infections.

The Epoch Times also received leaked government data from the Wuhan health commission, showing that local authorities are purposefully underreporting positive diagnoses.

Hubei province, the virus’s epicenter and home to around 60 million people, recently lifted travel restrictions, as authorities maintain that the virus has been contained domestically. The province’s capital of Wuhan will end restrictions on travel on April 8.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) also stated on March 26 that it directed Chinese airlines to maintain only one route to any country. It will also limit the number of flights to one per week, effective March 29.

The authority also ordered foreign airlines to reduce their international routes to China to one per week and only operate one route into the country.

About 80 percent of international flights were already being canceled prior to the announcement, but Chinese airlines had been asked not to cut their international routes until the CAAC issued its order.

Shanghai will require every international traveler arriving as of 6 p.m. local time March 26 to self-quarantine for 14 days, the local government announced.

Reuters contributed to this report.