China's zero-Covid border rules going nowhere this year

[reader]

From South China Morning Post / BP

HONG KONG: China is unlikely to ease pandemic-related border controls any time soon, despite mounting calls from an international community shut out by strict zero-Covid rules for nearly two years.

The National Immigration Administration hinted as much on Thursday, as a spokesman called on people to reduce cross-border activities this year if the trip was "not urgent, not necessary".

"The pandemic has not been brought under control in foreign countries. It remains a challenging job for China to prevent imported cases," spokesman Chen Jie told a press conference in Beijing.

Continues at

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2255167/chinas-zero-covid-border-rules-going-nowhere-this-year

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From The Bear News

Thailand to Reopen Border for Lao Workers after COVID Pause

Lao workers can now officially return to Thailand after a pause caused by COVID-19, but pre-employment approvals and steep fees may force many laborers to continue to try to enter the country illegally, according to sources in both countries.

Although the border has been closed, many workers still move across it in hopes of finding work that pays more than they can make in Laos. Lao authorities watch the border closely, but they cannot catch all migrants, as some get help from traffickers and employers in Thailand, said an official with the Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Services.

“Thai employers sometimes call former workers on the telephone, asking them to return to Thailand,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. “But if Lao workers want to go to Thailand without the consent of those employers, they won’t be able to go.

“Middlemen are also sometimes hired to take Lao workers to Thailand. They know all the ways to get them in,” he said.

Many Lao workers now try to enter without permission because of the high costs involved in obtaining visas and paying for the two required COVID-19 tests, a Lao man working for a job recruiting company said. The seven- to 14-day quarantine periods required before they can cross the border are another deterrent, the man said.

“The fees they are charged to go to Thailand legally are very high, with the offices that find work for them charging around 30,000 bhat (U.S. $900) each, so the money they can make in one month by working in Thailand is less than what they will have paid to go there,” he said.

By contrast, entering illegally with the help of middlemen costs each worker only around 7,000 to 9,000 bhat, he said.

“They are both male and female, mostly aged around 17, who are trying to find jobs,” said an official in Thailand’s Ubon Rachathani province, bordering Laos. “They are going in and out illegally, because Thailand has not officially opened its border gates yet.”

On Dec. 23, Lao authorities proposed to authorities in Thailand that the cost of two-year visa fees for Lao workers be reduced from 2,000 bhat  ($60) to 500 bhat ($15), and that Lao workers testing negative for COVID-19 be allowed to begin work without entering quarantine.

They also urged Thai authorities to strictly patrol the two countries’ common border to deter illegal entry and prevent migrants from becoming the victims of human trafficking or violence.

Thai borders to reopen

Thailand said it will reopen its borders, starting next week, to migrant workers from Cambodia and other neighboring countries for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the Thai government announced Thursday.

Thailand Labor Minister Suchart Chomklin said that 446 workers from Cambodia will be the first batch to be allowed in for employers in Chon Buri and Ayudhya province on Feb.1.

Late last year, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with private employers to import about 400,000 workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to fix labor shortages.

”The 446 will travel to Thailand’s Sakaeo province [opposite to Cambodia’s Poi Pet] and will be quarantined at the companies' centers at least seven days,” Suchart told reporters Thursday.

Unvaccinated workers or those with incomplete jabs will be administered the vaccine, another official at the department of employment said, adding that the fee for quarantine, including transportation costs, is 8,500 baht ($255) for each worker.

”We are still working on the arrangement with Laos and Myanmar. When finished, we will allow [labor] imports from those countries,” Suchart said.

Nontarat Phaicharoen in Bangkok contributed to this report.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/thai/border-opening-01272022164109.html

 

 

[Guest]

I know people who have arrived from Laos and Cambodia within the last couple of months.

[PeterRS]

The Chinese covid regulations also cover Hong Kong. I have a lawyer friend who took a 4 week vacation with his wife to Europe in July. New quarantine regulations were adopted when they were away. They were not prepared to spend 3 weeks in quarantine followed by a week of observation. So they stayed in Europe and finally flew to Phuket 10 days ago.

I also know people who are Permanent Residents of Hong Kong but live overseas and who have not been able to return to fulfil their residency paperwork. They have been informed they will be stripped of their residency, although the Director of Immigration has it in his powers to make exceptions "in exceptional cases"!

Now it's not just hotel quarantine but a stay in what looks like a concentration camp.

[Guest]

I was assuming that one reason for the continuing Chinese restrictions is the poor efficacy of their vaccines.  

Which ought to be solved when the Chinese license, develop or steal mRNA technology.   However, considering trial results, it's been known that nRNA is better for well over a year.  I also thought Biotech had licensed their mRNA vaccine to Fosun, instead of Pfizer for China, Hong Kong, Macau and, would you believe, Taiwan (!!!!).   However, China hasn't introduced the Biontech vaccine, as has been done elsewhere.  They have just done small scale trials on their own.

This almost looks like Mr Xi wants to deliberately prolong the isolation.

[numerito]

 I live in Hong Kong and I agree with @PeterRS The rules are very strict, and they are often updated. At the moment, flights from countries considered high-risk, including the US, the UK, Canada, many European countries, and some Asian and African, are banned. Non-residents cannot enter HK -vaccinated or not- except in very special cases, and residents returning from almost everywhere are subjected to a 3-week quarantine in a designated hotel -its length will be fortunately reduced to “only” two weeks after February 5-.

Wearing a mask in public is compulsory, and you can only remove it to eat or drink. Further restrictions have been imposed lately to -unsuccessfully- try to contain the rise of omicron: restaurants close at 6 pm, there is no night life, gyms and similar venues are closed, etc. People expect those to be lifted next week, after Chinese New Year. 

Life feels nevertheless normal in the city. The problem is that you cannot leave because of the entry restrictions. It is a gilded cage, gilded and pleasant, but still a cage.