DIPLOMATIC ROW:THE MEXICAN government yesterday dispatched a chartered plane to bring home its citizens from China where it said they had been targets of "repressive and discriminatory measures" because of the swine flu outbreak.
The diplomatic row over Beijing’s handling of the disease came as Mexico said it would allow the reopening of cafes and restaurants and the resumption of most normal economic activity from tomorrow after recording a fall in new cases.
The World Health Organisation said it was too early to say the worst was over and voiced concern that the virus could spread into the southern hemisphere as winter sets in.
“We’re not quite certain how it will evolve,” said Dr Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s top flu expert.
Chinese authorities insist they have not targeted people on nationality alone, saying many of those isolated arrived in the country on the same inbound flight as the country’s first swine flu patient, a 25-year-old Mexican man, who flew through Shanghai on the way to Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong authorities imposed a week-long quarantine on the hotel where he had been staying, locking in 350 guests and staff, and tracking down the other 128 people on the plane and two taxi drivers who had contact with the Mexican.
But the Mexican ambassador to China, Jorge Guajardo, said yesterday that more than 70 citizens had been quarantined elsewhere in China, none of whom had symptoms. Many ha’d been singled out “for the sole fact that they had a Mexican passport, whether or not they came from Mexico, whether or not they had been in Mexico, whether or not they had been in contact with someone else from Mexico”, said Mr Guajardo.
Those affected also included the Mexican consul in Guangzhou, who was briefly held after returning from a holiday in Cambodia. He was released after checks.
The Mexican president, Felipe Calderon, said: “I think it’s unfair that, because we have been honest and transparent with the world, some countries and places are taking repressive and discriminatory measures because of ignorance and disinformation.
“There are always people who are seizing on this pretext to assault Mexicans, even just verbally.” Mexico’s foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa, told a radio station that the plane sent to China would offer repatriation for about 70 Mexicans, many of whom she said were being kept in a sub-standard hotel “where they fear they may catch other diseases”.
China is seeking to organise a plane to fly its nationals out of Mexico, but its efforts have been complicated because Beijing suspended commercial flights between the two countries on Saturday.
The foreign ministry in Beijing said it hoped Mexico would deal with the issue in “an objective and calm manner”.
Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said: “The relevant measures are not targeted at Mexican citizens and are not discriminatory. This is purely a question of health inspection and quarantine.” He said China was prepared to help Mexico fight the outbreak and has donated $5 million worth of goods.
The WHO said it was holding talks with Beijing on the appropriate response to the outbreak.
China is one of 18 countries that have imposed partial or total bans on pork imports from Mexico, some US states and parts of Canada, despite the lack of evidence of any transmission of the new flu strain through the consumption of meat.
Meanwhile, Egypt carried out a cull of pigs despite demonstrations by the Coptic Christian minority who are its principal consumers of pork. – (Guardian service)