To leave Iran, S.Korea or not
Another country that concerns Chinese people is Iran. An imported case from Iran was detected in Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as early as February 26. On Friday, three imported cases from Iran were confirmed in Shanghai.
Zhang Ming (pseudonym) returned to China from Iran on a chartered flight on Wednesday. He told the Global Times that he had been studying and living in the holy city of Qom, one of the worst-hit cities in Iran.
As more and more deaths were reported in Iran, he became increasingly nervous as the country’s medical facilities are not good.
Currently, the first group of more than 140 Chinese people including Zhang who had taken a chartered flight from Iran to China are being quarantined in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. “The moment I boarded the chartered flight to China, I was overwhelmed with emotions. I was thinking I’m finally safe,” Zhang said.
In South Korea, a Chinese national said that South Korea did not pay enough attention to the epidemic, but that he had no plans to return because he would lose his job.
He added that foreigners are often among the first to be laid off as a result of the outbreak, which has reduced jobs, and these people may consider leaving South Korea to return home.
A woman surnamed Cui who lives in Seoul said the situation in Seoul was not as serious as in Daegu, so many people have not taken it seriously. She plans to wait and see for a while, but if the situations deteriorates, she will consider resigning and returning to China.
As for Japan, its recent measures to combat the virus have drawn ridicule from local Chinese. Li Xiang, who works in Tokyo, said the government, media and people paid little attention at the beginning, acting like it was “other countries’ affairs.”
Li was worried, but couldn’t make the decision to leave because she had a job in Japan.
Jiang Jiang, a Chinese student in Osaka, told the Global Times that many Chinese students want to return home, but Japan’s policy is changing day by day. If they cannot enter Japan, their tuition fees will be wasted.