SEOUL — With China’s vast population finally freed to travel as Beijing lifts its prohibitive “zero-COVID” quarantine requirements on Sunday, wary nations across East Asia are strategizing on how to handle a sudden influx of pent-up Chinese tourism demand.
Given the COVID-19 surge in China as the communist regime abandons its strict shutdown policies while offering only hazy numbers of new cases, it is a dilemma that has produced a clear schism in regional capitals over whether and how to welcome the lucrative Chinese travelers and their much-needed yuan.
On China’s periphery, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, all run by pro-American governments and wary of what Chinese tourists could bring with them, are imposing specific measures upon travelers from the mainland.