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China quietly toughens travel restrictions on West Africans
BY MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN
BEIJING Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:37am EST
(Reuters) - ...
Beijing-based ambassadors from Liberia and Sierra Leone, whose countries along with Guinea are the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak, say some of their nationals are staying away from China due to the new procedures.
No cases of Ebola have so far been reported in China.
"You have many Liberians, Guineans and Sierra Leonians who come frequently to conduct business," Dudley Thomas McKinley, Liberia's ambassador to China, said in an interview. "Of course this has impacted them in a negative way and has slowed it down.
"It has impacted the numbers of people traveling to China from those regions, whether for business or for study," he added, saying he planned to raise the concern with China's Foreign Ministry.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied there was any change in visa policy for West African applicants.
...
Victor Bockarie Foh, Sierra Leone's ambassador to China, said he himself faced stepped-up screening when he returned to Beijing after a recent trip to his home country.
...
The Embassy of Guinea did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/12/us-health-ebola-china-idUSKBN0KL0DM20150112
BY MEGHA RAJAGOPALAN
BEIJING Mon Jan 12, 2015 1:37am EST
(Reuters) - ...
Beijing-based ambassadors from Liberia and Sierra Leone, whose countries along with Guinea are the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak, say some of their nationals are staying away from China due to the new procedures.
No cases of Ebola have so far been reported in China.
"You have many Liberians, Guineans and Sierra Leonians who come frequently to conduct business," Dudley Thomas McKinley, Liberia's ambassador to China, said in an interview. "Of course this has impacted them in a negative way and has slowed it down.
"It has impacted the numbers of people traveling to China from those regions, whether for business or for study," he added, saying he planned to raise the concern with China's Foreign Ministry.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied there was any change in visa policy for West African applicants.
...
Victor Bockarie Foh, Sierra Leone's ambassador to China, said he himself faced stepped-up screening when he returned to Beijing after a recent trip to his home country.
...
The Embassy of Guinea did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/12/us-health-ebola-china-idUSKBN0KL0DM20150112