Decision to suspend China flights slammed

China has urged the United States to stop disrupting and restricting normal people-to-people exchanges between the two countries by politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic prevention measures of airlines, after the US government announced the suspension of 44 China-bound flights from the country.

“Driven by its selfish pursuit of exceptional and special treatment, the US suspended passenger flights by Chinese airlines without any reason and disrupted their normal operation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular news briefing on Jan 24.

Such arbitrary and irresponsible practices are in disregard of the Chinese and foreign passengers’ health, he added.

On Jan 21, the US Transportation Department said it would suspend 44 passenger flights by Chinese airlines between late January and the end of March.

The order — which applies to flights operated by Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines — was issued “in response” to measures by Chinese aviation authorities that asked US carriers to cancel the same number of flights, according to the department.