The drastic policy reversal has put many in jitters. Moreover, there has always been a noticeable lack of transparency on the part of Beijing authorities in the total number of infections and fatalities during the past three years, hence the intense reactions from people in some countries.

Wednesday noon, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced in a press conference at the prime minister’s office after chairing the weekly cabinet meeting that all travelers arriving in the country would be subjected to the same anti-virus measures, including those arriving from China.

At least this has clearly responded to queries how the country is going to “welcome” our visitors after China’s announcement to lift travel restrictions on its nationals with effect from January 8. The entry of Chinese nationals has since become a heated topic among Malaysians of late.

The prime minister said all visitors are not required to undergo mandatory PCR tests, including the Chinese. However, he said they still have to abide by the SOPs to be set out by the health ministry.

At the same time, the government has planned to tighten SOPs for all visitors entering the country, but will not adopt a different set of criteria for any specific country.

The PM emphasized that Malaysians’ health is always of utmost importance, far more than tourist revenue and economy.

As such, he urged the public, including journalists, to go for their booster jabs given the relatively low booster vaccination rate at 49%.

The health ministry has earlier announced that all visitors, including those arriving from China, would have to take temperature screening upon arrival in Malaysia. As for flights arriving from China, samples of sewage water would also be taken for PCR screening. Those with a history of travel to China or contact with individuals suffering from ILI and SARI in the last 14 days will have to undergo RTK-Ag tests.

We believe the health ministry will not reverse its earlier proposals because temperature screening and taking sewage water samples can be done very easily, while it is absolutely necessary to do RTK-Ag tests on individuals who have come into contact with ILI and SARI patients recently.

Many in this country have earlier hoped that the government would take cue from the measures implemented by countries like the US, France, Japan and Italy to impose mandatory negative PCR test requirement for travelers from China before they are allowed to enter the said countries.

Nevertheless, health experts from some countries said on Tuesday that such requirements and control measures targeted specifically at Chinese travelers are ineffective, as the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant currently transmitting rapidly in the United States poses much greater health risks.

According to the CDC, the percentage of XBB.1.5 infections has jumped from 10% to 40% since mid-December. In the UK, for instance, the biggest concern is the introduction of XBB.1.5 variant into the country from the US, not so much from the virus strains currently prevailing in China.

Tom Wenseleers, professor of evolutionary biology from Belgium, has urged health authorities worldwide to conduct random checks on arriving travelers instead of just Chinese travelers specifically.

As a matter of fact, the threat of BA.5.2 and BF.7, currently the most prevalent virus variants in China, has already been superseded globally by the XBB.1.5 subvariant.

The entry of Chinese travelers has become such a controversy because of the abrupt reopening from the seemingly uncompromising zero tolerance policy barely a month ago.

The drastic policy reversal has put many in jitters. Moreover, there has always been a noticeable lack of transparency on the part of Beijing authorities in the total number of infections and fatalities during the past three years, hence the intense reactions from people in some countries.

China is the biggest trading nation and exporter of outbound tourists in this world. Although many countries remain skeptical and worried, they should view the reopening of China with cautious optimism and try not to arouse misunderstanding that they are unwelcome in their countries.

As such, we should plaud the PM’s approach in according equivalent treatment to all arriving visitors, including those from China, so long as they can prove to be not carrying the virus and conform to our SOPs.

It is our hope that the virus from China is not as dangerous as some Western epidemiologists have already deduced.

We used to host some three million Chinese tourists back in 2019, and such a massive group of foreign tourists is poised to remarkably help reinvigorate our sluggish tourist industry.