China: UK advice is an overreaction
CHiNA accused the UK of overreacting to the coronavirus yesterday, saying there was no need to advise British citizens to flee the country.
China’s ambassador to the UK accused ministers of sowing panic about the virus.
On Tuesday the UK became the first country in the world to warn its citizens to leave China because of the rapid spread of the virus. An estimated 30,000 UK nationals have been advised by the Foreign Office to get out of the country as soon as possible.
But Ambassador liu Xiaoming said the warning contradicted advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO), which said sweeping travel restrictions were unnecessary at this stage.
He said: ‘i am not accusing, i would just like to see their words match their actions. We asked them to take the advice of the WHO, to make a reasonable reaction. We don’t think there should be such a panic. We were given notice before they made a formal announcement, we advised them we don’t think it’s a good idea. We believe the epidemic is controllable, preventable and curable.’
in a further sign of tension it emerged that mr liu had complained to Boris Johnson’s father Stanley about the Prime minister’s failure to call Chinese President Xi Jinping about the mounting crisis.
mr Johnson senior, a long-standing environmental campaigner, held talks lasting more than 90 minutes with mr liu at the embassy this week, ostensibly on a forthcoming summit on biodiversity. He then emailed environment minister Zac goldsmith and other officials to pass on Beijing’s unhappiness over the coronavirus.
He wrote: ‘mr liu obviously was concerned that there had not yet – so he asserted – been direct contact between the Pm and Chinese head of state or government in terms of a personal message or telephone call.’ His actions came to light when he inadvertently sent the message via email to a member of staff at the BBC.
downing Street yesterday denied that the Prime minister’s father was acting as a backchannel for communications with Beijing.
The Pm’s official spokesman said: ‘Stanley Johnson is a private citizen. He was not acting for the government in an official or unofficial capacity.’
mr Johnson senior said of his contact with the Chinese ambassador: ‘This is a very, very good and useful contact and i think the relationship between China and the UK as they move forward is going to be extremely important.’
government sources defended the decision to warn British nationals in China to leave, saying it was not clear if it would remain possible to leave the country in future if the epidemic worsens.
The Pm’s spokesman acknowledged that mr Johnson has not yet spoken to President Xi about the crisis, but added: ‘The Foreign Secretary and National Security Adviser have both spoken to their counterparts in China in the last week. We are working constructively with them on a range of areas.’ it is understood that No 10 has been trying to set up a phone call with the Chinese premier for several days.