Borders shut, China visitors banned as Asia ramps up defence

Borders shut, China visitors banned as Asia ramps up defence

Mongolia closed its border with China, shut schools, suspended all public events.

Tourist being scanned at KLIA. (Bernama pic)
MANILA:
Asian nations have sealed borders and clamped down on Chinese visitors as they try to protect themselves from a deadly virus epidemic.

The outbreak has killed 170 people in China, infected over 7,700 more and sparked progressively more urgent precautions around the region.

Here are some key measures taken outside mainland China:

Hong Kong 

Six of the territory’s 14 mainland crossings were sealed from Thursday as the city took steps to cut the number of people arriving.

Visitors from the ground-zero central Chinese province Hubei, as well as people who have visited the area, are banned from entering Hong Kong.

Sports centres and grounds, swimming pools, beaches, camp sites, museums and other public sites have also been closed.

Russia

Russia said Thursday it was closing its border with China and would stop issuing electronic visas to Chinese nationals.

Japan

If quarantine authorities judge that an arriving visitor has the virus, that person can be barred entry, the Japanese immigration service has said.

Kazakhstan 

The Central Asian nation announced Wednesday it has stopped issuing visas to Chinese citizens and will cut all major transport links with China over the outbreak.

Cross-border buses were ordered to stop from Wednesday, followed by the suspension of passenger train services from Saturday.

Regular flights between the two countries will be suspended from Feb 3.

Malaysia 

Visitors from Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province have been banned since Monday.

Authorities have temporarily stopped issuing visas for Chinese citizens from the hard-hit areas.

Malaysia’s home minister said Thursday that 14 Chinese nationals from Wuhan were barred from entering after they arrived at the Kuala Lumpur airport.

Sabah state has suspended all flights to and from China.

Maldives

The Indian Ocean atoll nation of the Maldives, which welcomes 284,000 Chinese tourists every year, has banned direct flights from China from Friday.

The ban will affect the national carrier, as well as three Chinese airlines operating five daily flights to the archipelago.

Mongolia 

Mongolia has closed its border with China to cars, temporarily shut schools and suspended all public events.

The measures announced Monday by the vast, landlocked country were some of the most drastic steps taken by any nation.

Northern Mariana Islands

The Pacific island states on Thursday banned all travellers from China to protect against the growing outbreak.

Chinese tourist traffic is a pillar of the economy in the US Pacific commonwealth.

People lining up to buy masks at a cosmetics shop in Hong Kong. (AP pic)

North Korea

Plans to ban foreign tourists were announced on Jan 22 as the already isolated nation sought to shield itself against the virus.

Pyongyang has taken similar actions in the past — it closed its borders to foreign tourists for more than four months from October 2014 in a bid to keep out the Ebola virus, even though no cases had been reported in Asia.

Papua New Guinea 

The impoverished nation shut air and seaports Wednesday to all foreign travellers coming from Asia.

The ministry of immigration also announced that Papua New Guinea’s only border – with Indonesian-controlled West Papua province – would be shut from Thursday.

Papua New Guinea residents returning from Asian countries will be held in quarantine for 14 days.

The Philippines 

Visa-on-arrival privileges for Chinese were suspended Tuesday to slow down the entry of tourists from the country, while Filipinos were advised to avoid non-essential travel to China.

Charter flights between Wuhan, the Hubei city where the virus is suspected to have originated, and the Philippine island of resort of Boracay are suspended.

Singapore 

Singapore announced Tuesday it will ban visitors who have travelled to Hubei as well as those with passports issued in the province.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka on Tuesday said Chinese tourists will now have to apply online for a visa in order to visit, instead of being able to get one on arrival.

Taiwan 

Taiwan initially banned anyone from Wuhan and Hubei province travelling to the island, but has since widened its restrictions.

Earlier this week Taipei issued a near blanket ban on Chinese tourists, though business travel is still permitted.

However, the number of mainland tourists travelling to Taiwan has sharply decreased in recent years as part of Beijing’s ongoing push to put economic pressure on the self-ruled, democratic island.

Vietnam 

Vietnam said it would temporarily stop granting visas for Chinese tourists from virus-hit areas except for emergencies.

Authorities also said visitors with high fever or who are suspected of being infected could be stopped from entering.

Nepal has closed off Rasuwagadi checkpoint between Nepal and China after a joint meeting yesterday.

Nepal

The Rasuwagadi checkpoint on the border with China – frequently hit by winter snow, closed on Jan 29 for 15 days.

Officials said a desk has been set up for Nepali citizens to return through the point.

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