Beijing explains Xi Jinping’s great U-turn on Covid-zero policy

State news agency claims Chinese President began its dismantling on November 10, a fortnight before protests broke out.

A reunion at Shanghai’s Pudong airport on Sunday. Picture: AFP

Beijing has given its fullest account of President Xi Jinping’s abrupt U-turn on Covid policy, calling the shift “scientific, timely and necessary” as one of China’s top diplomats in Europe railed about “discrimination” against Chinese tourists.

In Beijing’s telling, Mr Xi began the dismantling of his signature zero-Covid policy at an “extraordinary meeting” on November 10, a fortnight before protests broke out across the country amid widespread anger at the hardline approach.

The “inside story”-style piece by China’s official newsagency Xinhua is the latest effort in a system-wide attempt to counter criticism Beijing was not properly prepared for its reopening. “In the face of the once-in-a-century coronavirus epidemic, there is no ready-made answer on how to prevent and control it scientifically,” Xinhua wrote.

Beijing’s defence of Mr Xi’s decision making process comes as Chinese tourists set off on international travel for the first time in three years. Governments across Southeast Asia have been courting visitors from what had been their biggest source of tourists until the pandemic. Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn personally welcomed the first plane load of Chinese tourists at Bangkok’s international airport when it arrived from Xiamen, just after midday on Monday.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim have criticised countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea that have put testing requirements on arrivals from China.

A travel agent in Beijing told The Australian many Chinese travellers were closely following which destinations had testing rules and quarantine requirements for those who test positive. “We’re collecting relevant information to provide to our clients so they can avoid possible inconvenience abroad,” the agent said.

The agent said the industry believed most restrictions would be removed in the coming months.

A requirement by Germany for Chinese travellers to receive a negative rapid antigen test 48 hours before flying was denounced as “discrimination” by China’s ambassador in Berlin.

“Pointing the finger at others hasn’t solved a single problem,” Wu Ken told the German business masthead Handelsblatt.

“Such a decision must be made on a scientific basis. It seems to me that there is also discrimination involved. We reject that.”

From Sunday, China allowed international visitors to enter the country, so long as they have returned a negative PCR test within 48 hours of travel. China’s German ambassador defended that policy because it was not aimed at “specific countries”.

There were scenes of joy at Hong Kong’s border on Sunday as quotas to travel to mainland China were greatly expanded.

Yang Yang, a finance executive in his 30s working in Shenzhen, told the South China Morning Post he was returning to see his wife and daughter. He had been able to spend only 20 days with them over the past three years, but will now return to Hong Kong every week.

“I want to make up for the time I have lost,” he said.

At private meetings, Chinese health officials have estimated tens of millions of new Covid cases are spreading across the country every day. Beijing has been cagey about the number of fatalities, but international forecasts believe more than a million will die in the coming months.

Despite the Propaganda Ministry’s presentation of an orderly, carefully adjusted process, many in China are reeling at the hasty end of Mr Xi’s “zero Covid” policy.

Even Xinhua’s defence of Beijing’s approach admitted that it was not until the end of November – as the virus was raging across the country – that it began its “Work Plan for Strengthening New Crown Virus Vaccination for the Elderly”.

After years of warnings about the dangers of the pandemic beyond China’s border, many Chinese are staying put as cases spread. Zhao Junlei, an accountant in Jiangsu, told The Australian he was not ready to travel this year. “I used to be a travel fan, but not now,” he said.