China will relax its infamously strict coronavirus restrictions for entry into the country starting Jan. 8, according to a lengthy list of new policies issued Monday by its National Health Commission.
Outside China, Monday’s announcement gave hope to tens of thousands of international students who have spent nearly three years locked out of the country and the universities where they are enrolled. This group, which has been advocating under the hashtag #TakeUsBackToChina, have faced difficulty in receiving visas, booking flights or getting onto locked-down campuses.
half a million studentsShahroz Khan, 22, a medical student from India, had been studying in China when he returned to his home country in 2020. He had no idea that the Chinese border would remain closed for years, and that he would not be able to return to campus. He ended up completing his degree online, but still needs to return to China to complete an internship requirement.“For the past 2½ years, we have heard the same reply: Either there is a lockdown or restrictions or rise in cases,” he said by phone from India. Khan’s university in Jiangsu province had previously asked students to refrain from trying to come back before February 2023. With the restrictions eased, he hopes to get back to China sooner.Experts say the country needs to be clear and transparent in its communications and treat international students with compassion. “The inconsistent treatment of international students has been a soft power failure for China,” said Curtis S. Chin, a former U.S. ambassador to the Asian Development Bank who is now chair of the Milken Institute Asia Center. He added that many students had returned to the United States and parts of Europe after those regions opened up. “The contrast with the situation in China is striking,” he said.Chin added that China may continue to draw international students to its low costs and relative quality, but it may have to offer scholarships and financial assistance to be an attractive higher education destination.said China’s coronavirus containment strategy had been successful but “costly in economic, social and emotional terms with foreign students, business executives and tourists largely unable to enter or return to China for several years.” Now, the government’s focus would be on economic recovery with the shift of covid strategy, he said. But even as China loosens its entry rules, countries such as Japan and India are increasing restrictions for travelers from China as cases there soar.
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