The Chinese are angry with South Korea and Japan

Release travel restrictions Following the reopening of China’s borders Maybe Affects where people book their flights.

Several Chinese travelers who spoke to CNBC said this was not out of spite.

They said it was because some countries did not allow them to enter easily.

To date, more than a dozen countries have declared New rules for passengers departing from China. last week , The European Union recommended its members Requiring Chinese travelers to take Covid tests before entering.

But Covid tests are not the problem, Xun Ren, managing director of the China Market Research Group, said. Speaking to “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday. “These policies are only directed towards mainland China,” he said.

South African Mansour Mohamed, who lives in China, agreed. “It’s relatively easy and cheap to get tested for Covid in China, so it won’t affect my travel planning,” he said.

“However, I know that many patriotic Chinese colleagues and friends will avoid those countries for the time being because the practice of testing passengers arriving from China is discriminatory.”

Of course, China requires Travelers to test negative before entry China, and has for three years.

The difference, Mohammed said, is that “all access [to China]including Chinese nationals… [is] are subject to the same rules.”

Chinese officials have called the rules from South Korea and others “excessive” and “discriminatory. “

But South Korea refutes the allegations of discrimination. Seung-ho Choi, deputy director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, noted to CNBC that the country’s rules apply to “Korean nationals and non-Korean nationals coming from China. … There is no discrimination on nationality in this measure.”

“The COVID situation in China is still deteriorating,” he said. He said the number of people traveling from China to Korea who tested positive for Covid-19 rose 14 times from November to December.

The Japanese Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment. A representative at the Embassy of Japan in Singapore told CNBC that Japan processes Chinese travel visa applications as normal.

“In order to avoid a sharp increase in the flow of new cases into the country, we are concentrating our efforts on entry and airport checks,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Dec. 27, citing the discrepancy in infection information from China. According to an article he published Nikki Asia.

Both Japan and South Korea have taken conservative stances towards the Covid pandemic.

Japan, in particular, has it She was slow to return to pre-pandemic life, with the width of the population A little excited when its borders fully reopen in October 2022.

Ryan told “Squawk Box Asia” that the rules aren’t just about tourism.

“This is a political issue,” he said, adding that he expected Japanese stocks to be affected, and mentioned two cosmetic names.

“I’m going to be careful about Shiseido. I’m going to be careful about Kose, because there will be some interruptions,” he said. shares cone The Tokyo Stock Exchange was down on Tuesday, however Shiseido was higher.