Coronavirus: Rival nations go easy on Chinese students

Britain and Canada have adopted far less stringent travel restrictions against the coronavirus.

International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood. Picture: Aaron Francis

Britain and Canada, both key competitors to Australia in the international student industry, have adopted far less stringent travel restrictions against the corona­virus, potentially giving them an advantage in attracting international students.

Neither country has closed its borders to people from China. In Britain, two categories of travellers are being asked to self-isolate and contact the National Health Service: those who have travelled to the UK from Hubei province in the past 14 days, and those with symptoms who have come from anywhere else in China in the same period.

The British government has launched a public information campaign to advise people about how to slow the spread of the disease and prevent undue pressure on health services.

Canadian health officials have gauged the risk to the public as low, although Canadians who return from Hubei province, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, on a government charter flight will be quarantined at an air base in Ontario for 14 days.

It has introduced measures at its international airports in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to identify travellers returning to Canada who may be ill and raise awareness among travellers about what they should do if they become ill; those returning to Canada may be asked about their travel history and health.

Two other strong competitors to Australia in enrolling inter­national students — the US and New Zealand — have adopted tough travel bans.

On Saturday, Scott Morrison said non-citizens and non-­residents who had been in any part of mainland China in the previous 14 days would not be allowed into Australia. The policy is due to be reviewed on February 15, but on Tuesday Health Minister Greg Hunt said he expected the ban to continue.

 

Australia’s universities, col­leges and schools stand to lose up to $2bn if the more than 100,000 Chinese students still in China can’t travel to Australia for the first teaching periods this year.

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said the sector was hopeful the virus would be contained soon. “We should take heart from the fact that the Australian government have re­affirmed they will monitor the state of the virus every 14 days to ascertain when we can reopen our borders,” he said.

University of Queensland vice-chancellor Peter Hoj predicted that greater alignment in different countries’ travel policies toward China would emerge as the crisis progressed.

He said that in the early stages “governments have to make tough decisions in a highly fluid environment and often based on imperfect embryonic knowledge of a complex situation”.

He said this led to different decisions being made by different groups of decision makers “despite them all seeking to serve the public interest optimally”.

“We will and should see governments review such tough decisions frequently, and as more knowledge becomes available, I predict that the differences in approaches will diminish and greater international alignment amongst similar countries will emerge as a result,” he said.

Although Singapore has barred entry to Chinese passport holders, and others who have visited China in the past 14 days, it has exempted Chinese students and others with long-term entry rights to Singapore from the ban. Chinese students returning to Singapore after the Lunar New Year holidays are being quarantined. While Japan has banned foreigners who have visited Hubei in the past 14 days, it has not barred entry for other visitors who have been to China.