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China denies discriminating against Mexicans
Beijing (AFP) May 4, 2009 China on Monday denied discriminating against Mexicans with its strict flu control measures, but quarantined travellers from Mexico questioned aggressive Chinese steps that have sparked a diplomatic spat. "The relevant measures are not directed at Mexican citizens and are not discriminatory," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement posted on the ministry's website. The statement came a day after Mexican diplomats complained bitterly to China, saying their countrymen had been placed under a seven-day quarantine despite showing no signs of swine flu. The A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu, has killed a reported 23 people worldwide, 22 of those in Mexico, according to Mexican and World Health Organization (WHO) figures. "There are other countries that are taking similar action like China, so I don't think China is standing out in this respect," the WHO's resident director in China Hans Troedsson told AFP in an interview. He said the UN health body recommended that countries "take measures to try to prevent the spread" of the influenza A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu. "There are many different measures and quarantine is one of them," he said. A Mexican embassy official told AFP on Monday there were nearly 70 Mexicans quarantined across China, including in Beijing, Shanghai and the southern city of Guangzhou. Some had travelled to China aboard the same flight that carried an infected Mexican man -- Asia's first confirmed swine flu case -- who is now in a Hong Kong hospital. But the Mexican embassy says others arrived on planes from the United States and were quarantined solely because of their nationality. Myrna Elisa Berlanga, 31, a Mexican tourist who arrived in China on Saturday, questioned why she was being quarantined since no one on her flight from the United States had the virus. "Right now we are tired of being confined, not knowing what will happen with us," she told AFP by phone from the hotel near Beijing's airport where she and nine other Mexicans are being isolated. "In my case, it's not the same. Nobody was infected on our plane, so I'm wondering why I have to stay seven days in quarantine." Berlanga did not complain about conditions at the hotel but said they were forced to wait, and were unable to communicate with the Chinese staff who regularly checked their temperatures. Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has called China's actions "unjustified" and warned Mexicans against visiting China. China sent a chartered flight late Monday to pick up 200 stranded Chinese citizens in Mexico, the Chinese official Xinhua news agency reported, citing China Southern Airlines. The plane left Guangzhou for Mexico City and Tijuana at 10pm (1400GMT) and was expected to return to Shanghai at 9am Wednesday, the operator said, according to Xinhua. The statement appeared to reverse an earlier decision to cancel a China Southern Airlines charter flight that was to have fetched about 120 stranded Chinese citizens in Mexico. Meanwhile a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry website late Monday said China and Mexico had agreed to repatriate their respective nationals. "Following consultations between the governments of China and Mexico, the two sides have agreed to send chartered flights to take home their nationals from the other country," the statement said. "At the moment, arrangements for the chartered flights are in full swing," it added, without giving any further details. Earlier, a Mexican foreign ministry official in Mexico City had said the government was sending a plane to pick up its nationals in China, but it was not immediately clear if that included the 70 in quarantine. The official said only that the repatriation was "directed at all the Mexicans who want to return to Mexico". Separately, a spokesman for China Southern Airlines had earlier told AFP the carrier had cancelled a flight that was to have fetched Chinese citizens in Mexico. However, the spokesman could not confirm whether Mexican anger over the quarantines was behind the cancellation. "The cancellation was instructed by high-level (Chinese) officials," said the spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. China's foreign ministry spokesman Ma called for Mexico to be "objective and calm". "China understands the Mexican side's concern for the rights and interests of its citizens in China and hopes Mexico can proceed from the overall standpoint of jointly addressing the epidemic situation," he said. He called the situation "purely a medical quarantine issue". Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Mexico sees epidemic easing
Mexico City (AFP) May 3, 2009Mexico was increasingly optimistic Sunday its H1N1 flu epidemic was coming under control, after officials said stabilizing fatality figures suggested the virus was not as lethal as first feared. |
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