China quietly toughens travel restrictions on West Africans

Beijing - China has been quietly toughening travel restrictions on
students and businessmen travelling from Ebola-hit West Africa
even as it increases support to fight the deadly disease on the
ground in the region, diplomats say.
Beijing-based ambassadors from Liberia and Sierra Leone,
whose countries along with Guinea are the hardest hit by the
Ebola outbreak, say some of their nationals are staying away
from China due to the new procedures.
No cases of Ebola have so far been reported in China.
"You have many Liberians, Guineans and Sierra Leonians who
come frequently to conduct business," Dudley Thomas McKinley,
Liberia's ambassador to China, said in an interview. "Of course
this has impacted them in a negative way and has slowed it
down.
Visa policy
"It has impacted the numbers of people travelling to China from
those regions, whether for business or for study," he added,
saying he planned to raise the concern with China's Foreign
Ministry.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied there was any change
in visa policy for West African applicants.
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Most West Africans enter China through the southern province of
Guangdong, which neighbours Hong Kong. The Guangzhou Daily
said 438 000 Africans, mostly traders, passed through the
provincial capital from January to October last year.
Victor Bockarie Foh, Sierra Leone's ambassador to China, said he
himself faced stepped-up screening when he returned to Beijing
after a recent trip to his home country.
"I came back and at the airport I was very rigorously examined,"
he said, adding he did not fault China for stepping up restrictions
on travellers from his country.
Health checks
"If you fly with a disease like this, it is like flying with a bomb," he
said. "They [China] have not closed their doors. They are only
being careful."
McKinley said Liberian students, including those on a
government scholarships, had difficulties obtaining visas in time
to begin the fall semester. Most of their cases were worked out
but some had postponed their studies by a term, he said.
The Embassy of Guinea did not respond to repeated requests for
comment.
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China is not alone in tightening travel restrictions. The United
States has toughened health checks for passengers from Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone. Other countries such as Australia have
stopped issuing visas altogether for citizens from the impacted
countries.
China, Africa's biggest trade partner, promised last year to send
over 1 000 personnel to help fight the outbreak that has killed
over 8 000 people. Beijing has also contributed over $100m in
aid to the anti-Ebola effort.
- Reuters