China has suspended transit visa exemptions for South Koreans and Japanese traveling via the country in an additional retaliatory measure over South Korea's strengthened entry restrictions on Chinese arrivals.
The Chinese immigration office said Wednesday that the measure was introduced in response to the implementation of what it called “discriminatory” entry restrictions against Chinese people by a small number of countries without further specification.
Under the exemptions, foreign travelers stopping over at China en route to their destinations are allowed to stay without a visa at the designated areas in Chinese airports for three to six days.
The Chinese immigration office also suspended visa issuance for South Koreans and Japanese newly arriving in the nation.
The measures were taken after China suspended issuing short-term visas in South Korea and Japan in what appears to be a targeted reprisal over the stricter entry regulations put in place against Chinese arrivals in a host of countries worldwide amid a recent COVID-19 resurgence in China.
Source: KBS World Radio