U.S. requires passengers from China to be tested before departure Foreign Ministry response

January 13, 2023January 13, 2023

Read Time:1 Minute, 42 Second

On January 13, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin hosted a regular press conference.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of State reportedly said that the U.S. requires travelers from China to be tested before departure because of the spread of the epidemic in China and the lack of sufficient and transparent epidemiological and genetic sequence data reported by the Chinese side. What is China’s comment on this?

Wang Wenbin said that since the outbreak, China has always shared relevant information and data with the international community in accordance with the principles of law, timeliness, openness and transparency, and has continued to share the genetic sequences of new coronavirus infection cases in China with WHO and the Global Influenza Shared Database, making positive contributions to vaccine and drug development in various countries.

“Both WHO and the Global Influenza Shared Database have recently indicated that the viral genetic data provided by China is consistent with the genetic sequences of Chinese infected travelers’ viruses submitted by other countries, and no new variants or significant mutations were found.” Wang Wenbin said Kluge, director of the WHO Europe office, said he agreed with the European CDC that the strains currently prevalent in China are those that have been prevalent in Europe and elsewhere and would not have a significant impact on the epidemic, calling for travel measures to be scientific, proportionate and non-discriminatory.

Wang Wenbin noted that according to data released by the CDC, the current new mutant strain XBB.1.5 is spreading rapidly in the United States and has become the fastest-rising strain in the country, having caused more than 40.5 percent of infections. WHO has also identified XBB.1.5 as the “most transmissible offspring” of the Omicron variant, with greater infectivity and immune escape. The U.S. should share information and virus data on the outbreak with WHO and the international community in a timely, open and transparent manner, and respond positively to the concerns of the international community in a joint effort to address the situation.