Travel Ban: Chinese authorities’ effective restriction on Indian travelers for the past two years has put a burden on Indian enterprises in China, as well as families who have been separated for up to two years. Several thousand Indians are said to be waiting to return to China, according to Indian community groups in China. Thousands of students enrolled at Chinese universities, the majority of whom are in medical schools, have been pleading with the Chinese authorities to make it easier for them to return.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated he “brought up firmly the issue of Indian students studying in China who have not been allowed to return, citing COVID restrictions” after talks with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi on March 25.
“Because it touches the future of so many young people,” he continued, “we hope China would take a non-discriminatory stance.” “Minister Wang Yi informed me that when he returned, he would communicate with the appropriate authorities about this problem. In this tough scenario, he also recognized the specific issues that medical students have.”
Businesses, unlike students, claim that their situations, as well as those of families, split up by China’s travel regulations, have not received the same level of attention.
More than a dozen persons told The Hindu in interviews that Chinese authorities have continued to refuse business visas as well as visas for immediate family members of Indian citizens who have stayed in China to manage their firms for much of the past two years.
The Chinese Embassy in India announced last year that they would “assist” passengers who were immunized with Chinese vaccines, which are not available in India. Hundreds of business people and families traveled to Nepal and West Asia as a result of this.
China is the only large country having multiple travel ban
China is the only large country with travel restrictions that are still closed to the rest of the world. Visas are only provided for emergency humanitarian reasons, such as visiting severely ill relatives or to “resume operation and production,” including for business and trade objectives, under China’s existing standards.
Despite the fact that the regulations apply to all countries and are not specific to India, a representative of an Indian community association claimed that Indian businesspeople were particularly restricted.
“We know of businesspeople from a variety of countries who have been granted permission to return,” the spokesperson said. “For the visa application, a letter from the local government is required, however, we were told by several local governments that they will not provide the letter to Indians. They stated that there is a clear directive prohibiting them from doing so.”
China, which is now grappling with an influx of Omicron cases, particularly in Shanghai, has stated that it will maintain its “zero COVID” policy, with no signs of easing off. That is expected to last at least until November, when President Xi Jinping is expected to begin his third term after an important once-every-five-year party congress, with the government touting Mr. Xi’s “zero COVID” strategy as one of Mr. Xi’s achievements and contrast to how the West handled the pandemic in the past two years.