By Tomoyuki Tachikawa,
With the Lunar New Year holidays coming, China's drastic "zero corona" policy has baffled Japanese workers in Beijing, most of who have been forced to continue to stay in the capital for more than one year.
One day before the 40-day Spring Festival travel season, known as the world's biggest human migration period, began on Jan. 28, the Beijing government abruptly announced stricter steps to restrict movement of people to prevent the intrusion of the novel coronavirus.
"I had planned to make a temporary return to Japan during the Lunar New Year holidays to meet my family and had booked a flight, but I eventually postponed the schedule," a Japanese male employee for the Beijing office of Sony Corp. said.
"I have not met my baby who was born last year in Japan. I hope that the situation will get better as soon as possible," he said ahead of the seven-day holidays that kicked off Thursday.
Many Japanese workers in Beijing live alone, as their family members, who evacuated from China amid the epidemic in early 2020, have been stranded in their home nation since the Chinese government limited the entry of foreigners last year.
Since late January, the Beijing authorities have prohibited people, who do not have a negative certificate of a PCR test taken within seven days before arrival, from entering the capital from outside the city.
After arriving in Beijing, travelers must monitor their health for signs of infection for 14 days. During the period, they are allowed to go out but banned from participating in any group activity and having a meal with others.
They also have to report their health condition to their workplace and residential district as requested and must take PCR tests on the seventh and 14th day during the so-called health monitoring period.
Such measures will remain effective until March 15, the day when this year's 10-day annual session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, is expected to end.
"Once I leave Beijing, I cannot do face-to-face activities with others after return. I cannot get any work done," a Japanese employee for the sales division at an automaker company in the capital said.
"I wanted to make a trip to somewhere in China during the holidays, but I gave up. In the last resort, I will play golf every day in Beijing," he said, with a large number of golf courses in the city fully booked recently even in the winter.
Regarding overseas travel, people must be quarantined at a designated facility for 21 days upon arrival in a city other than Beijing in China. After reaching the capital, they must undergo a seven-day health monitoring period.
So far, all direct flights between Japan and Beijing have been suspended.
As some workers in Beijing returned via another city to Japan late last year, the quarantine period was extended in January during their stay in the home country. The capital previously imposed 14-day quarantine on those who entered Beijing.
"While I am in Japan, the goalpost has been moved," a male employee for a Japanese major trading house in Beijing said.
"If I go back to China now, I will be quarantined effectively for one month. I cannot stand it. I am wondering if I will stay in Japan with my family for a longer period than I originally planned," he said.
Meanwhile, many Japanese in Beijing -- especially those who have left their family members in Japan -- have been also concerned about the virus spread in the nation.
Another male Sony worker said the number of infections may increase in Japan if Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government rushes to lift the ongoing state of emergency with the aim of holding the Tokyo Summer Olympics in July.
"If the state of emergency is lifted, Japanese people might let their guard down against the virus. I have heard that it is still uncertain when Japan can secure adequate vaccines. I am very worried about my family," he said.
The current state of emergency for Tokyo and some other areas is slated to be fully lifted on March 7 at this juncture.
In contrast to Japan, China has already approved its home-developed coronavirus vaccines and its citizens have started receiving one of them, although fears linger about their safety and efficacy.
There is a rumor that all the people living in China, including foreigners, could be ordered to inoculate with the country's vaccines in the near future when they travel to other nations suffering the outbreak of the virus.
"I do not want to take a Chinese vaccine," a Japanese journalist in Beijing said. "To avoid such a consequence, I strongly hope that Japan's central and local governments will make every effort to contain the virus."
Since first being detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus erupted into a pandemic that has infected over 100 million people and caused more than 2 million deaths across the globe, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
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