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Covid in China: People rush to book travel as borders finally reopen

Chinese people have rushed to book overseas travel after Beijing announced it would reopen its borders next month.

Passport applications for Chinese citizens wishing to travel internationally will resume from 8 January, the immigration administration said.

It follows an announcement on Monday that ended almost three years of strict quarantine rules for arrivals.

Travel sites have since reported a spike in traffic.

But Chinese tourists will not have unfettered access to all countries.

Japan - one of the most popular destinations for Chinese travellers - has announced that all travellers from China must show a negative Covid test on arrival, or quarantine for seven days, because of the surge in cases there.

India has also said travellers from China (as well as some other countries) must show a negative Covid test when they arrive - though this was announced before Beijing’s easing of restrictions.

The easing of travel rules in China - the last part of the country’s zero-Covid policy - comes as the country battles a new wave of infections.

Resentment against the government’s policy - which sparked rare public protests against President Xi Jinping in November - led to a relaxation of Covid restrictions across the country.

But an increase in Covid cases followed, with reports of hospitals overwhelmed and a shortage of drugs.

The announcement on outbound travel on Tuesday came after Monday’s news, which axed quarantine rules for travellers arriving

Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested when he returned to Tehran for a brief visit in February

in China. It also scrapped a cap on the daily number of flights.

On the same day, the National Health Commission announced that Covid would be formally downgraded to a Class B infectious disease on 8 January.

Before the relaxation of travel rules, people were strongly discouraged from travelling abroad. The sale of outbound group and package travel was banned, according to marketing solutions company Dragon Trail International.

Within half an hour of Monday’s notice that China’s borders would reopen, data from travel site Trip.com - cited in Chinese media - showed searches for popular destinations had increased ten-fold year-on-year.

Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and South Korea were the most popular destinations. In addition, Chinese travel agency Qunar saw flight enquiries on its website increase seven-fold within the first 15 minutes after the announcement, the China Daily reports.

Before the pandemic, the number of outbound tourists from China stood at 155 million in 2019, according to Statista. This number dropped to 20 million in 2020.

This year, some people in China will hope to visit family and loved ones during Chinese New Year, which begins on 22 January.

But inside China, there has been a mixed reaction.

“I’m happy about it but also speechless. If we’re doing this [reopening] anyway - why did I have to suffer all the daily Covid tests and lockdowns this year?” said Rachel Liu, who lives in Shanghai.

She said she had endured three months of lockdown in April - but nearly everyone in her family had become infected in recent weeks.

She said her parents, grandparents and partner - living across three different cities in Xi’an, Shanghai and Hangzhou - had all come down with fever last week.

Many have also expressed concern online about borders reopening as Covid cases peak.

“Why can’t we wait until this wave passes to open up? The medical workers are already worn out, and old people won’t survive two infections in one month,” read one top-liked comment on Weibo.

People in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, which experience chilly temperatures in the winter, say they’re running out of flu and cold medicine.

It’s feared that hundreds of deaths may be going unreported as crematoriums are overwhelmed.

In the capital, Beijing, authorities say they are planning to distribute the Pfizer tablets, Paxlovid, in order to try to reduce the severity of infections. But health centres contacted by The Global Times on Monday said the drug had yet to be delivered.

On Monday, President Xi issued his first remarks on the changes, calling on officials to do what was “feasible” to save lives.

Iran protests: Family of football legend Ali Daei stopped from leaving

Iranian football legend Ali Daei says an international flight has been rerouted to prevent his wife and daughter from leaving the country.

The 53-year-old, who has voiced support for anti-government protests, said his family had tried to fly from Tehran to Dubai to join him on holiday on Monday.

But the flight was made to land on an Iranian island in the Gulf and they were removed.

No reason was given and the pair are returning to Tehran, Ali Daei added.

The latest protests were triggered by the death in custody of Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, 22, in September. She had been held for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly.

More than 500 protesters, including 69 children, have been killed, while thousands of others have been arrested, human rights activists say. Dozens of Iranian security personnel are also reported to have been killed. • ‘No going back’ as Iran protests hit 100 days

Ali Daei took part in the final draw for the World Cup in Qatar

Iran’s state-run news agency Irna said Mr Daei’s wife, Mona Farrokhazari, had pledged to inform officials before leaving the country, following the couple’s “association with the groups against the Islamic revolution”.

Irna said their flight had landed at Kish Island and “Ali Daei’s wife and daughter got off the plane”.

Mr Daei said the pair “were going to Dubai for a few days trip and back”, adding: “Had they been banned (from leaving), the passport police system should have shown it. No-one has given me an answer about this.”

In a social-media post in September, he urged the government to “solve the problems of the Iranian people rather than using repression, violence and arrests”.

Earlier in December his jewellery shop and restaurant in Tehran was shut down by the judiciary.

In addition to arrests, Iranian authorities have banned several celebrities, artists and prominent figures from leaving the country following their support for the mass protests.

Ali Daei, 53, is one of Iran’s most famous sports figures. A former captain of the national football team, he has scored 109 goals at an international level in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Taiwan extends mandatory military service to one year

Taiwan will extend mandatory military service from four months to one year, President Tsai Ing-wen has said.

The decision comes amid growing tensions with China, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, President Tsai announced new plans to bolster Taiwan's defence in the event of an attack from Beijing. "Peace will not drop from the sky... Taiwan is on the frontline of authoritarian expansion," she said.

President Tsai said conscripts will also undergo more intense training, borrowing some elements from the US and other advanced militaries. She added that the island's current defence system was inadequate to cope with aggression from China, which has one of the world's largest and most advanced militaries.

The Taiwanese army has shrunk since the early 1990s when all men over the age of 18 were required to serve in the military for up to three years. Over the next few decades, service was shortened to one year and 10 months before being further reduced to four months. The new rule takes effect in January 2024 - the same month Taiwan will elect its next president. "This is an extremely difficult decision, but as president, as the head of military forces, it is my unavoidable duty to defend national interests and our democratic way of life," President Tsai said. "No-one wants war, Taiwan and Taiwanese people are the same, and the international community is the same," she said, adding "China's military aggression has become increasingly obvious after its war game in August."

Tensions between Taipei and Beijing soared in August following a visit to the island by US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. Source;BBC