Coronavirus - those in China, and general discussion

[abcdefg]

On 3/26/2020 at 11:39 AM, Flickserve said:

Affects @abcdefg going back in

 

Yes. Got a message from China Eastern Airline this morning that my flight from Los Angeles to Kunming via Shanghai has been cancelled. I'll probably set something up for the second half of May with the understanding that it might need to be pushed back again. 

 

I would not be surprised if "international living" with one foot in the US and one foot in China will never be the same again. Crossing borders may have just become more restrictive and complex for many years to come. 

[Flickserve]

Even international travel is not going to be the same again. Foreign travel holidays are going to be severely curtailed. 

[mackie1402]

It'll be interesting what happens when all of the schools go back in China, especially if the borders are still blocked by summer. With a huge majority of foreign teachers on tourists visas which require them to leave every 60 days, I can imagine a lot of 英语培训 closing down. 

[mkmyers45]

6 hours ago, mackie1402 said:

especially if the borders are still blocked by summer. With a huge majority of foreign teachers on tourists visas which require them to leave every 60 days

Moreover, a lot of Chinese and foreign students are either somewhere abroad or back in their home countries. It will be very interesting to see how all these will be resolved. 

[carlo]

15 hours ago, arreke said:

Is this information real or fake?

Does this also apply to permanent residents? Together with recent popular opposition to "green card" reform, it’d be unfortunate if someone who has gone to the trouble of qualifying for this, pays taxes on worldwide income, and presumably has family and property in China, now cannot go home. It’s just a $#% virus, not WW3....

[arreke]

1 hour ago, carlo said:

Does this also apply to permanent residents?

 

No, only to visa or residence permit holders.

[roddy]

Visa Center in London's closed. There is a route in, in that visas issued after the announcement are valid, but I don't fancy the chances of ordinary folk getting one. 

[Lu]

2 hours ago, carlo said:

It’s just a $#% virus, not WW3...

Closing the borders of China is not because of the virus, it's part of the international power struggle. Not World War III but Cold War II, if you will.

[carlo]

1 hour ago, arreke said:

No, only to visa or residence permit holders.

After posting here, I came across this which seems to suggest PRs are also suspended. The category is not mentioned in the MOFA announcement either. I guess if you're already inside that's not an issue (?).

 

In any case. It wasn't that long ago that I was living in Beijing and someone told me I qualified for a "green card" (at least on paper) on several counts. And what about maybe one day retire there (we were young, in love, and it all seemed far away). Yet a tiny skeptical voice inside me was going, "mm, 真的永久吗？" I wasn't expecting to get an answer so soon.... End of digression.

[Jan Finster]

20 hours ago, ChTTay said:

Yes, here as well ... 
 

borders are closed ?

 

 Does this mean visas that are already issued are void? Or are they still valid once this temporary ban is over?

I have a visa that is valid until summer 2021...

[ChTTay]

Unsure! I reckon a visa like that (doesn’t expire for a long time) will likely be valid again once this period is over (if and when). If you’re visa expires during this period probably 没办法.

 

All speculation though! Who could know! Things change here twice a day ?

[Jan Finster]

3 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

Things change here twice a day ?

 

Amen ?

[arreke]

3 hours ago, carlo said:

After posting here, I came across this which seems to suggest PRs are also suspended.

 

Excuse me, which part of this article tells that PRs are also suspended?

[Flickserve]

Here in Hong Kong, unfortunately infections are still coming up and not decreasing. 2/3rds are those recently from overseas.

[carlo]

10 minutes ago, arreke said:

Excuse me, which part of this article tells that PRs are also suspended?

It doesn't say so, but suggests it.

 

"从3月28日零时起，将不再允许持有效中国签证、居留许可的外国人入境。.... 其他实施旅行禁令的领导人，包括特朗普总统在内，往往允许来自其他国家的永久居民继续进出，虽然他们限制了大多数其他入境者。.... 中国更为严格的旅行禁令只有少数例外，主要是外交人员。"

 

If you have better sources, I'd love to know.

[roddy]

Do we know anyone who's got one?

[889]

The Daily Mail is headlining that permanent residents are barred as well, so I guess that means there's no doubt about it.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8157499/China-temporarily-bar-entry-foreigners.html

[杰.克]

11 hours ago, Lu said:

Closing the borders of China is not because of the virus, it's part of the international power struggle. Not World War III but Cold War II, if you will.

 

Interested to hear more on your thinking on this . Fairly extraordinary assessment to says its not because of the virus. 

[dtcamero]

20 minutes ago, 杰.克 said:

Interested to hear more on your thinking on this . Fairly extraordinary assessment to says its not because of the virus.

 

agreed, it’s a pretty extraordinary self-inflicted economic wound. even during the height of the cold war america and russia were still issuing each other visas

[Dawei3]

On 3/26/2020 at 5:13 PM, abcdefg said:

one foot in the US and one foot in China will never be the same again

This may be for a while, but the world needs to find a solution.  For now, going to everyone wearing a mask (when supplies are sufficient in the Western world) should control the outbreak to the point when travel can happen again.  China is ahead of the world in this.  If their controls prove effective (and I expect this to be the case), then transmission will drop below that needed to sustain the epidemic (i.e., Ro<1).  

 

Long-term, we need a vaccine.  Then we can return to life as normal.  Humans show a strong immune response to the virus, so a vaccine is possible.  However, it's hard to say when a safe & effective one will become available.  Even longer term, the world should be investing more in vaccine research & development.  However, once Covid-19 is addressed, interest in vaccine research will likely drop considerably and we'll go back to being surprised by a new virus.   Fortunately, this wasn't like African Swine Fever that kills 90-100% of pigs and has been sweeping across Africa, Asia & Europe.