Japan Protests Suspension of Visa Issuance by China, Chief Cabinet Secretary: Very Regrettable

Illustration of passengers at the airport. (Wikimedia Commons/Mx. Granger)

JAKARTA - The Japanese government on Wednesday protested China's decision to suspend the issuance of visas to Japanese travelers, urging the country to withdraw measures seen as retaliation for Tokyo adopting tougher COVID-19 entry restrictions.

"Regrettably, China is limiting the issuance of visas for reasons other than tackling the novel Coronavirus", Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular press conference, adding Tokyo had protested through diplomatic channels, reported Kyodo News on January 11.

As previously reported, China suspended the issuance of short-term visas in South Korea and Japan on Tuesday, after announcing it would retaliate against countries requiring a negative COVID-19 test for travelers from China.

Late last year, Japan tightened border controls for travelers from mainland China as a temporary measure, requiring them to be tested for COVID-19 on arrival amid a spike in cases and fears a new variant of the Coronavirus could emerge there.

As Beijing reopened the country's borders and abandoned quarantine measures on Sunday, Tokyo further stepped up Japan's border controls for travelers originating from China, requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test before departure.

Matsuno, a spokesman for the Japanese government, defended the government's decision, saying the measures were "a temporary measure designed to avoid entry of infected people into Japan."

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi separately said, "(Measures) have been taken so as not to hinder as much as possible the movement of people globally.".

"We will examine the COVID-19 conditions in China and how the country discloses information and act accordingly", said Hayashi, who was on a trip across the Americas.

China's decision to suspend the issuance of new visas is a worrying development for Japanese businessmen and students planning to study in China, as Beijing has yet to set an end date for the measure.

At the China Visa Application Service Center in Tokyo, an official explained to the roughly 30 people who queued early Wednesday to submit documents, visas would only be granted for "humanitarian reasons", such as the death or critical illness of a close family member.

A 60-year-old Japanese woman whose 90-year-old parents in Beijing had contracted the Coronavirus was turned away because she did not have a certificate showing they were critically ill.

"I came here thinking there might be a chance for me but I was wondering how I could prove that my parents were in critical condition", she said.

The suspension of the Chinese visa "is not a border control measure but simply harassment", said another woman who was prevented from applying angrily.

Meanwhile, a Japanese businessman cannot apply for his visa to travel to China. "I will think about canceling the trip", he said.

It is known that China has significantly relaxed its strict anti-virus rules since late last year, including no longer restricting the movement of people, completely different from its strict "zero-COVID" policy which involves lockdown and isolation measures.

The drastic shift sparked an explosion of Coronavirus cases across the country, creating fear among other countries of an influx of infected people from China, amid a lack of verified data on the spread of the virus.