Possibility of American citizens entering China

[mungouk]

This was publicised on WeChat today... the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles (17 June) is stipulating that returning to China from the US (with residency permit) is still meant to be only for emergency/humanitarian reasons or to resume work, and they're suggesting contacting the Consulate General for the go-ahead before buying plane tickets, arranging PCR tests etc.

http://losangeles.china-consulate.org/chn/lbyj/t1852599.htm

[889]

Hong Kong, unlike the Mainland, is visa-free for visitors from most countries. Many get a 90-day stay. (Britons get 180 days.)

[mungouk]

Given how careful the mainland has been recently about entering (even increasing quarantine restrictions in some cases), I find it hard to believe they would leave HK as a gaping loophole. Especially at a time when they're being very public about Beijing increasing control there.

 

Also with international events in 2022 like the winter Olympics (Beijing) and the Asian Games (Hangzhou) on the horizon, and the imminent celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the CPC, this wouldn't be a good time to show negligence. I think they will be keen to show they have everything under better control than Tokyo has demonstrated.

 

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for all the feedback, folks. This is much appreciated. ?

[mungouk]

Possibly worth adding that there's on-going discussion right now about how to treat people who are fully vaccinated.

 

The issue seems to be that the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines aren't officially approved by the various regional bodies (the US's FDA, the EU's EMA etc) even though they have WHO "emergency approval".  And until they get this, it's unlikely that China will give reciprocal approval to foreign vaccinations.

 

There's a chance this could all change soon of course, but it makes planning international travel extremely difficult.

 

[889]

It's official. Vaccinated non-residents of Hong Kong who've spent at least the past 14 days in a newly-defined "medium-risk country" will be able to enter the SAR starting August 9 subject to a 14-day hotel quarantine, which may be shortened to 7 days once airport antibody testing facilities are in place later this month.

 

The U.S. will apparently be included as a "medium-risk country," but not the U.K.

 

This is not a back-door to the Mainland, which remains closed. But the potential is there down the road. And it does make HK one of the few places in Asia open again to non-residents.

 

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202108/03/P2021080200985.htm?

[abcdefg]

A step in the right direction. Glad to see it. 

[abcdefg]

And then this, just a few minutes ago. 

 

New restrictions sweep China as officials race to contain delta outbreak

 

 

Quote

 

Faced with a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, China is implementing a wave of travel restrictions and quarantine orders, the scale of which has not been seen since the country’s initial explosion of cases from Wuhan last year.

 

Driven by the contagious delta variant, the outbreak will be a closely watched test of China’s vaccines as well as its draconian containment strategy, which until this point has been largely effective in keeping infections low, experts say.

 

Quote

As of this week, all provinces in China have issued travel warnings or banned nonessential trips to areas considered high risk. Some villages have blocked road access to keep out unwanted visitors, and universities have ordered students and staff not to leave campus. Wuhan University told students to suspend or cancel plans for summer internships unless they were able to move them online.

 

Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-delta-outbreak-spreading/2021/08/03/45506e96-f36b-11eb-a636-18cac59a98dc_story.html)

 

[889]

That didn't last long. As of Aug 20, America and a host of other countries, including France, Spain, Greece and Turkey, will be moved to HK's High-Risk group. This will block non-residents from entering HK if they've been in any of those countries during the past 21 days.

 

And residents coming from any of these places must quarantine in an approved hotel for 21 (twenty-one) days.

 

Note the rules look to where you have been, not your citizenship.

 

EDIT: And in a second further tightening, the option of reducing hotel quarantine to 7 days with a positive antibody test has been eliminated. So if you're a vaccinated non-resident coming from a medium-risk country like Canada, you'll be serving 14 days hotel quarantine.

 

All this because one traveler suddenly tested positive 12 days after entry last week. However on further investigation just released, it seems she was infected at the quarantine hotel itself because of ventilation issues. This is not the first time a traveler has been infected while in quarantine.

[889]

Today there are reports that the HK-Mainland land border may be largely open by June next year. Or maybe not.

 

In any event, this clearly puts paid to any expectation that the Mainland might be opening up generally within any foreseeable time frame.

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3155288/coronavirus-hong-kong-residents-hoping-mainland?module=perpetual_scroll&pgtype=article&campaign=3155288

[Moshen]

Quote

puts paid to any expectation

 

What does that mean?  This is an expression I've never run across.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for the update, 889. I'm on my mobile at the moment and cannot access the SCMP. I'll take a look tomorrow.  

On 11/8/2021 at 11:09 PM, Moshen said:

What does that mean?  This is an expression I've never run across.

Haha, I'm also a little puzzled. 

[abcdefg]

On 11/8/2021 at 9:09 AM, Moshen said:

What does that mean?  This is an expression I've never run across.

 

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/put_paid_to 

 

On 11/8/2021 at 9:00 AM, 889 said:

In any event, this clearly puts paid to any expectation that the Mainland might be opening up generally within any foreseeable time frame.

 

In that sentence, it means that those expectations are cancelled or terminated. Those expectations are not realistic. They are very unlikely to actually come to pass. 

 

Google suggests it's mainly British, but it must have "jumped the pond." I'm American, and hear that use here sometimes. 

[roddy]

On a quick Google, looks like in the US it's a more neutral 'ends', whereas in the UK it's a more dramatic 'destroys, terminates', and originates from putting 'paid' on a bill or account to show it was settled.

[Moshen]

It's interesting how such expressions are distributed - or not.

 

Maybe in the US it's a regional expression, because having lived in the US my whole life except for one year in China, I've never heard it or read it.  Honestly, I thought it was a garbled version of some other expression.

[889]

"Ends" alone would have been too weak for me here. "Puts an end to" carries the right emphasis, but "puts paid to" is punchier.

 

The message is, fo'gettit.

[Serg]

On 11/8/2021 at 4:00 PM, 889 said:

Today there are reports that the HK-Mainland land border may be largely open by June next year. Or maybe not.

 

In any event, this clearly puts paid to any expectation that the Mainland might be opening up generally within any foreseeable time frame.

 

Deleted.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for the free English lesson, everybody. Much appreciated. :-)

[889]

I understand your frustration, Serg, but we try not to be too explicit in our posts here.

[889]

Hong Kong is now blocking all passenger flights from the U.S., the U.K., France and a few other countries, as well as anyone who's recently been in any of those countries.

 

Relaxation of restrictions does not seem to be on the cards.