TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Chinese embassy in the U.S. on Sunday (Jan. 8), the same day that China opened its borders to international travelers, announced that it will not accept American visa applications for tourism and medical treatment.

Although China has started to experience a massive, nationwide spike in COVID infections, Beijing completely halted the announcement of new cases and deaths on Christmas Day. The next day, China announced that it would end both testing and quarantine requirements for international travelers and at the same time ease restrictions on Chinese travelers from going overseas.

Due to the dearth of data on the extent of China's COVID outbreak and the potential emergence of new variants, many countries such as the U.S., U.K., and India announced requirements that Chinese travelers provide proof of a negative COVID test within 48 or 72 hours before departure. Other countries, such as Japan, Italy, and Taiwan announced they would require passengers from China to undergo testing upon arrival and quarantine if they test positive, while South Korea combined the pre-boarding test, on-arrival test, and quarantine for positive arrivals.

China quickly criticized these policies, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stating at a press briefing on Jan. 3: "We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity." In apparent retaliation, China's embassies in Tokyo and Seoul on Tuesday (Jan. 10) announced they would halt issuing visas to travelers from Japan and South Korea.

On Dec. 28, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that effective on Jan. 5, travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau would be required to present proof of a negative COVID test or documentation of recovery. It stated that the reason for implementing this policy was "given the lack of adequate and transparent epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data being reported from the PRC."

Just as China reopened its borders to travelers on Sunday, the Chinese embassy in the U.S. under its Consular Services section posted an announcement titled "Notice on the Adjustment of Requirements for Chinese Visa Application." The embassy stated applications for visas for tourism and medical treatment in China are "temporarily not accepted."

It also stated that multi-year multiple-entry visas which had been issued before March 26, 2020, will continue to be suspended. However, it is accepting applications for other kinds of visas such as study, work, and family visas.

Nearly identical messages barring travel by tourists and people seeking medical treatment are also posted on China's Consulate-General website in San Francisco and New York City.

Notice on Counsulate-General San Francisco website. (Sanfrancisco.china-consulate.gov.cn screenshot)

Notice on Counsulate-General New York website. (Newyork.china-consulate.gov.cn screenshot)