The people of China are once again outraged over the country’s zero-Covid policy. A quarantine bus crashed the other night, killing 27 people and leaving others in the hospital. As President Biden says “the pandemic is over” and other countries have relaxed policies, will China ever see it this way? Japan is another country that has strict policies, just not as strict as China – but they are strict enough to keep tourists away (for now). Will these countries ever be fully open again? How is this impacting the residents of these countries? And families abroad?
Syracuse University faculty expert Darwin Han-Lin Tsen, assistant teaching professor of Chinese and Chinese coordinator, reacted to the questions above. He writes:
“Both China and Japan are economic, political, and cultural powerhouses in our contemporary, hyperconnected world where commerce and capital reign – it is highly unlikely that both countries would seek a long-term “lockout” akin to what happened in the Qing-Dynasty or the Edo Period. China’s re-opening schedule highly depends on what transpires over the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on October 16th, of which the Covid-zero policy was considered a hallmark of President Xi Jinping throughout the pandemic. I would estimate a gradual reopening for tourists and foreign visitors in mid-to-late 2023. For China’s citizens abroad, the decreased quarantine periods (from the initial 14+7 days and extra to 7 days in a facility/hotel and 3 days at home) have greatly benefitted travel – you need to just talk to Syracuse University’s Chinese international students to observe how many were able to go home this past summer. As for Japan, recent news indicates that the government has just opened up to non-escorted travel, albeit requiring a tourist visa and keeping a daily entry cap. With the Japanese yen at a historic low, I expect tourists in Asia will be eager to take the opportunity to visit Japan, so full re-opening isn’t too far off – in fact, Japan is preparing for a full-scale reopening on October 11th.”
If you’d like to learn more or request an interview with Professor Tsen, please reach out to Vanessa Marquette, Media Relations Specialist, at vrmarque@syr.edu
