Amidst Covid crisis, EU and China in loggerheads

The EU does not seem to give so much attention to what China thinks and all set to ensure incoming passengers from China do not transmit any potential new variants to the region and for that travel restrictions are also on the card.

New Delhi, Jan 4: Whereas the European Union is trying to avoid Covid 2020 situation where it was caught unaware and had to pay heavily, China thinks any move from the group is a slap on the face. Nonetheless, the statement from China that it is firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes shows the lack of understanding the country has for a grave issue.

China did not stop at retorting, it instead warned the European Union of countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity. However, the EU does not seem to give so much attention to what China thinks and all set to ensure incoming passengers from China do not transmit any potential new variants to the region and for that travel restrictions are also on the card.

Pushing for pre-departing testing

What the European Union wants from China is assurance that no Covid positive is travelling to their continent and for that it wants to have a mechanism in partnership with the country. However, this is not going well with the aggressive diplomacy of China often called 'China wolf warrior diplomacy'. In a statement EU spokesman Tim McPhie said that they are in favour of pre-departure testing in China. However, since it is not going well, the two have come closer to a political standoff.

While China vehemently rejects travel restrictions, some EU nations are in no mood to face the situation that they had to in 2020 and for that they have started to impose pre-departing testing. Italy which has faced the most severe Covid pandemic is the first EU member in requiring coronavirus tests for airline passengers coming from China.

China variants all around the Europe

Although some countries are mulling a plan to impose travel restrictions on the travellers from China, a few others are of the view that such measures would not help them as new variants now coming from China have already been around in Europe. , often for many months. There is no unity vis-à-vis what to do with the travellers arriving from China.

For instance, whereas France, Spain and Italy have announced specific measures to implement tougher COVID-19 rules for passengers arriving from China, the other countries are still not clear about their future plan of action. However, one thing is for sure, the way things are going on, the EU would take all prudent measures required to protect its citizens from Covid mayhem.