A day after China halted its shortterm visas for South Koreans and Japanese travelers after Japan imposed COVID-19 curbs on visitors from China. Japan has now lodged a protest over the suspension of visas and asked China to overturn the action.
In a statement, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan has said that it is regrettable that China has unilaterally taken visa suspension actions for reasons other than the steps for Coronavirus. China's move to suspend the short term visas comes after Japan toughened COVID-19 border control rules for travelers coming directly from China.
They will now require a negative PCR test result less than 72 hours before departure. Meanwhile, China has defended its retaliatory measures against South Korea and Japan and has called the curbs reasonable.
The Chinese embassies in Seoul and Tokyo also slammed the testing requirements as discriminatory. The state run nationalist tabloid Global Times also defended Beijing's retaliation as a direct and reasonable response to protect its own legitimate interests.
South Korea, meanwhile, has said that its country's decision was based on scientific evidence.
