UK MPs say Covid passports backed by Boris are divisive

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Friday condemned the “harassment” of foreign journalists in China after a BBC correspondent left the country in the face of legal threats and pressure from authorities.

John Sudworth said he had quit China for Taiwan after a “full-on propaganda attack” from authorities due to his reporting on Xinjiang rights abuses and the pandemic.

“This is the latest case of foreign correspondents being driven out of China as a result of continuous harassment and obstruction to their work, coming on top of the expulsion of at least 18 correspondents last year,” a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in a statement.

“Foreign correspondents play an important role in imparting information across frontiers and contributing to strengthening mutual understanding between the EU and China.”

Chinese state media and officials repeatedly attacked Sudworth for his reporting on alleged forced labour practices targeting Uighurs in Xinjiang.

A spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry accused the BBC of spreading “a large number of fake news with strong ideological bias”.

LONDON/BRUSSELS: A group of British lawmakers on Friday warned ministers against introducing “divisive and discriminatory” Covid-19 vaccine passports after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed the scheme.

The group of more than 70 MPs - including former leaders of both the main parties warned that vaccine passports could be used to “deny individuals access to general services, businesses or jobs”.

They spoke out after the UK PM on Thursday said the documents would be “useful” adding that “there’s definitely going to be a world in which international travel will use vaccine passports”.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that virus passports could be trialled at the FA Cup final football match in May and the World Snooker Championship starting this month.

Earlier this week, Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said if virus deaths and hospital admissions fall very low, “the British instinct... will be against vaccine passports”.

The concept has won support internationally, particularly from countries dependent on tourism. The EU has proposed a digital European vaccine pass. Greece and Cyprus already have vaccination passports specifically for travel to and from Israel, which has fully vaccinated over 55% of its population.

The UK government, meanwhile, is adding four countries Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines - to its travel ban list amid concerns over new variants of the coronavirus. The latest restrictions will take effect in England on April 9.

In China, the border city of Ruili, hit by a fresh outbreak, began a five-day drive on Friday to vaccinate its entire population of 300,000 people.

In Italy, police seized devices allegedly used by four Italians to send death threats and offensive emails to the country’s health minister Roberto Speranza to protest his firm stance on coronavirus lockdowns.

With ferry services shut due to Covid-19 curbs in Mombasa, Kenya, people jostle for space as they commute to their destinations.