China Lets Quarantined Mexicans Fly Home

中国周二允许此前受到隔离的墨西哥人回国，结束了因对甲型H1N1疫情爆发的处理而引发的外交纠纷；但由于禁止从加拿大进口猪肉和对一批加拿大在华留学生进行隔离，中国与加拿大之间又产生了摩擦。Associated Press一位墨西哥女士携行李来到墨西哥驻华使馆，准备搭乘回国包机一架包机接上了上周末以来因担心甲型H1N1病毒扩散而在北京和上海等中国城市接受隔离的墨西哥人。这架飞机还按照计划前往香港接上12名墨西哥公民。甲型H1N1流感病毒已导致墨西哥和美国许多人患病，并已扩散至世界许多地区。作为各自接回因疫情被困本国公民的协议内容之一，中国派飞机前往墨西哥接回自周末暂停两国间航班以来滞留在当地的中国公民。官方媒体新华社的报导说，共有99名中国人登机回国。此前，中国南方航空公司(China Southern Airlines)的发言人说，共有200名中国人要求返回。中国这次一直在非常积极地控制疫情传播。由于人口众多和公共卫生基础设施薄弱，中国很容易受到传染病的冲击。因2003年非典爆发初期试图掩盖疫情，结果耽误了防控，中国曾受到了国际社会的批评。这次，中国迅速行动，努力消除疫情的外部危险，要求卫生人员处于高度戒备状态，对发现一例确诊病例的飞往中国航班上的其他乘客采取了隔离措施，并表示要投入50亿元（7.33亿美元）资金用于疫情防控。但中国政府在处理隔离外国公民的事情上表现的似乎不够周全，这其中包括几十位墨西哥人和部分加拿大人及美国人。就在加拿大外交部长劳伦斯·坎农(Lawrence Cannon)本周末访华之前，中国受到了加拿大的抱怨。加方对周末抵达中国东北一座城市的22名大学生在没有明显流感症状的情况下受到隔离表示了关注。在近30名前往吉林省长春市学习语言的蒙特利尔大学学生中，有一部分人在上周六下飞机后不久即受到了隔离。加拿大驻华使馆公共事务负责人高柏灵(Patrice Cousineau)说，为什么这些学生要在没有流感症状的情况下受到隔离？中国外交部发言人马朝旭证实这些学生体温正常，身体健康状况良好，但他对隔离措施进行了辩护。他对记者说，吉林省有关部门根据有关规定，对他们实施为期7天的医学观察。加拿大政府威胁说，如果中国不取消禁止从加拿大进口生猪和猪肉产品的命令，将向世界贸易组织提起诉讼。上个月，中国宣布禁止进口产自墨西哥以及美国得克萨斯州加州堪萨斯州纽约州和俄亥俄州的生猪和猪肉产品，并表示美国任何出现甲型H1N1流感疫情的州都会被加入到这个名单中。在加拿大有一个猪群感染了甲型H1N1流感后，中国实施了对加拿大相关产品的进口禁令。医学权威部门说，食用充分烹制的猪肉是不会感染甲型H1N1流感的。马朝旭说，为保护中国畜牧业安全和人体健康，中国政府不得不采取应急性预防措施。另据美联社报导，中国修改了针对美国公民的签证受理规定。中国驻美使领馆网站上一份日期标注为5月3日的通知说，所有签证的受理日期将改为6个工作日，并暂停受理加急或特急签证申请，直至另行通知。此前，美国公民能在最短一天内拿到签证。周二，中国外交部发言人马朝旭拒绝谈美国公民签证受理调整的问题。他说，有关调整是非歧视性的，不针对任何国家。对其他国家的签证受理看来并没有类似的调整，包括同样发现了甲型H1N1流感病例的西班牙和加拿大。与此同时，美国驻华使馆发言人苏珊·史蒂文森(Susan Stevenson)说，目前有两名美国公民被中国卫生部门隔离，另外两名此前被隔离的美国人已经被解除隔离。她说，这四名美国人被隔离的原因是他们最近乘飞机抵达中国伊始出现了相关症状，或是他们曾接近过“被怀疑感染了甲型H1N1流感的人”。从香港回国的12名墨西哥人中，有4人曾在香港接受过隔离。其中两人与那名在香港被发现感染了甲型H1N1流感的墨西哥人有过密切接触，他们曾入院观察，不过未发现被感染的迹象；另外两人曾下榻香港湾仔维景酒店。自上周五这家酒店的一名住客被 诊感染了甲型H1N1流感以来，酒店的客人即被隔离，目前7天的隔离期尚未结束。香港政府官员周二表示，其余8人是来香港的墨西哥游客，他们原本计划去中国大陆的。他们还说，在返回墨西哥的飞机上，曾被隔离的4名墨西哥人将与其他8人分开坐。墨西哥有关部门和这4名游客均同意，回到墨西哥后，他们会保持隔离状态，直到7天的隔离期于香港时间5月8日晚8:30结束。那名 诊感染了甲型H1N1流感的25岁墨西哥人仍在接受治疗，他将留在香港，直到痊愈。Shai Oster / Patricia Jiayi Ho（更新完成）相关阅读香港维景酒店住客理性接受隔离 2009-05-05中国隔离墨西哥人 两国关系或现裂痕 2009-05-04中墨将互派包机接回本国公民 2009-05-05南航包机赴墨接回200名中国公民 2009-05-05美墨拟逐步放宽流感监控措施 2009-05-05


China allowed quarantined Mexicans to head home Tuesday, dousing one diplomatic brushfire sparked from its handling of the flu outbreak, as new friction rose with Canada over banned pork imports and a group of quarantined Canadian students.A chartered plane collected Mexicans who had been held in isolation in cities in China including Beijing and Shanghai since late last week on fears of the new A/H1N1 virus. The plane was scheduled to pick up 12 Mexican nationals in Hong Kong as well. The virus, sometimes called swine flu, has sickened many people in Mexico and the U.S. and has spread world-wide.As part of an agreement on repatriating citizens stranded by the epidemic, China sent a plane to pick up Chinese citizens stuck in Mexico since Beijing suspended flights between the two nations over the weekend. The official Xinhua news agency said 99 Chinese were aboard the flight. Earlier, a China Southern Airlines spokeswoman said 200 Chinese had asked to come back.China, vulnerable to epidemic because of its huge population and weak public-health infrastructure, has aggressively tried to contain the new flu. China drew international criticism for its handling of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in 2002-2003, which was hampered by an initial coverup.This time, China has moved swiftly to try to quash an external threat of disease, putting health officials on high alert, quarantining passengers on a flight with the one confirmed case in China and promising to invest five billion yuan, or $733 million, to fight swine flu.But the government has come across as insensitive in its handling of foreign nationals, which included dozens of Mexicans, some Canadians and a handful of Americans.China faces complaints from Canada, just ahead of a visit by Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon this weekend. Canada voiced concern over 22 university students with no apparent flu symptoms held in a northeastern Chinese city since arriving there over the weekend.Part of a larger group of nearly 30 language students traveling on a program from the University of Montreal, they were put into isolation shortly after getting off a plane Saturday in Changchun, in Jilin province.'Why were the students placed in quarantine when there are no symptoms?' said Patrice Cousineau, head of public affairs for the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu confirmed the students were healthy, but defended the action. 'The relevant departments in Jilin province acted in accordance with pertinent Chinese regulations and implemented seven days of medical observation,' Mr. Ma told reporters.The Canadian government threatened to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization if China doesn't lift a ban on hog and pork product imports.Last month, China banned shipments of such meat products from Mexico and the U.S. states of Texas, California, Kansas, New York and Ohio and said any U.S. states affected by the flu would be added to the list.The ban on Canadian imports was imposed after a Canadian herd of pigs was infected with the swine flu. Medical authorities say swine flu can't be contracted by eating properly cooked pork.'In order to protect the safety of China's livestock and human health, China has no choice but to take last-minute preventive measures,' Mr. Ma said.Separately, China has changed visa rules for citizens from the U.S., the Associated Press reported. A notice dated May 3 on the Web site for the Chinese Embassy and its consulates in the U.S. said all visa applications would now require six business days to process, with express and rush services for visa applications suspended until further notice. Previously, U.S. nationals could obtain visas in as little as one day.On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mr. Ma refused to address the visa changes for Americans, saying 'relevant adjustment [to the visa policy] is nondiscriminatory and is not targeted at any country.' The new rules don't appear to be in effect for any other country, including Spain or Canada, where swine flu has also been detected.Meanwhile, two U.S. citizens are being quarantined by Chinese health authorities and two others who were quarantined have been released, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said. The four Americans were held in quarantine because they had shown symptoms when getting off recent flights into China or because they had been in proximity to 'someone of concern,' said Susan Stevenson, the embassy spokeswoman.The 12 Mexicans being repatriated from Hong Kong include four who were quarantined in the city. Two of these, close contacts of the sick patient, had been hospitalized for observation but have no sign of infection, and two were in the Metropark Hotel, where residents have been kept under a seven-day quarantine since last Friday's discovery that an occupant of the hotel was sick with the A/H1N1 virus.The remaining eight are Mexican visitors to Hong Kong who originally planned to travel to mainland China, Hong Kong government officials said Tuesday. On the plane, the four Mexicans who have been under quarantine will be segregated from the eight others, they added.The Mexican authorities and the visitors have agreed that these four, once repatriated, will remain under quarantine conditions until the seven-day quarantine period is completed at 8:30 p.m. on May 8, Hong Kong time.The one patient with a confirmed case of A/H1N1, a 25-year-old Mexican man who is still being treated, will remain in Hong Kong until he recovers.Shai Oster / Patricia Jiayi Ho