China will gradually resume exchanges of people with the EU
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A tourist wears a protective mask in Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy, March 8, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
The European Council adopted a recommendation on Tuesday to open the
bloc's external borders on Wednesday to citizens of 15 countries,
including China, but not the United States.
The approved countries are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia,
Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea,
Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and China.
But China's inclusion is subject to confirmation of a reciprocal
arrangement, according to the announcement. So far, China only allows
what is deemed essential travel by visitors from European Union member
states.
China will gradually resume exchanges of people with the EU in a safe and orderly manner on the premise of guaranteeing the COVID-19 prevention and control measures, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday.
Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic, China has been
actively taking measures to ensure that visitors from the EU that are
engaged in necessary activities, such as those covering trade, economic
and science and technology spheres, can visit China, Zhao said at a
regular press briefing in Beijing.
The European Council stressed that the list will be reviewed and
updated every two weeks. Criteria used to make decisions include the
epidemiological situation and containment measures in a country,
including physical distancing levels, as well as economic and social
considerations.
More specifically, the number of new COVID-19 cases in a given
country over the past 14 days, and per 100,000 inhabitants, should be
close to or below the European Union average.
The country should also see a stable or decreasing trend in new cases over this period compared with the previous 14 days.
The European Council, which comprises 27 members, said Schengen
Area-associated countries, such as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and
Switzerland, are also taking part in this recommendation.
A majority decision
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The recommendation is not legally binding, since member states have
the final authority on its implementation. But the European Council
stressed that a member state should not act to lift the travel
restrictions for non-listed third countries before this has been decided
in a coordinated manner.
Tuesday's recommendation was decided by a majority of the EU's 27 member states, rather than by unanimous agreement.
EU states adopted restrictions on nonessential travel from outside
the bloc from mid-March when the pandemic was spreading rapidly on the
continent.
EU officials point out that politics does not play a role in
determining which countries make the travel list. Rather, such decisions
are based on science, guided by the need for member states to keep
their citizens safe.
The US, Russia, Brazil and Turkey are among those countries whose
containment of COVID-19 is regarded as worse than that of the EU.
In the US, the EU's travel list has generated headlines with the exclusion of the country hit hardest by the pandemic.
The US has reported some 2.6 million coronavirus cases and more than
127,000 deaths, by far the highest in the world. On Tuesday, it reported
more than 47,000 new cases, according to a Reuters tally.
US President Donald Trump suspended the entry of all people from
Europe's ID check - free travel zone in March. The mutual ban is
expected to further hit each side's tourism industries.
Estimates put the number of US citizens visiting Europe at more than 15 million a year. And around 10 million Europeans cross the Atlantic for vacations and business each year, according to France 24, a French state-owned television network.
Source: By CHEN WEIHUA in Brussels |China Daily |Updated: 2020-07-02 09:28. Mo Jingxi in Beijing contributed to this story.
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