Special Report:  World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu  　

Chinese ambassador to Mexico Yin Hengmin (R) says good-bye to Chinese citizens waiting for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, May 5 -- China and Mexico Monday agreed to send chartered flights to each other's countries to fetch their citizens, dampening a row that stemmed from Beijing's quarantine of Mexican nationals in the country amid the global H1N1 flu outbreak.

    On Sunday, China Southern Airlines canceled a chartered flight meant to pick up more than 200 Chinese citizens stranded in Mexico as it could not secure landing permission from Mexican airports.

    The plane finally left Guangzhou for Mexico City at 10 p.m. Monday and is expected to return to Shanghai at 9 am Wednesday, the airline said.

    The Mexican government Monday accused China of singling out its citizens for forced isolation despite the fact they showed no symptoms of the virus.

A Chinese citizen waits for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz) Photo Gallery>>>

    A Mexican embassy official said that there were nearly 70 Mexicans quarantined across China - in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

    Some had traveled to China aboard the same flight that carried an infected Mexican man - Asia's first confirmed H1N1 flu case - who is now in a Hong Kong hospital.

    Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa called China's actions "unjustified" and warned Mexicans against visiting China.

    China rejected the charge, saying it was not discriminating against Mexicans and called for Mexico to be "objective and calm."

    "The measures are not targeted at Mexican citizens, and are not discriminatory. This is purely a question of health inspection and quarantine," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Monday.

    "China understands the Mexican side's concern for the rights and interests of its citizens in China, and hopes to jointly address the epidemic situation," he said.

Chinese citizens wait for boarding at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, May 5, 2009. A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from Mexico City, heading towards Tijuana, northern Mexico, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. (Xinhua/David De la Paz) Photo Gallery>>>

    The WHO's representative in China, Hans Troeddson, said Monday the measures taken by Beijing are proper and do not violate current regulations.

    "It's really up to each country and should be in accordance with their own regulations and legislation on public health and protection of the population," he said.

    Zhong Nanshan, a renowned medical expert and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, also defended the quarantine measures.

    Medical circles are still unclear over the pathology of the H1N1 virus, he said. "We're not sure whether H1N1 carriers transfer the virus before showing symptoms," Zhong said.

    As such, quarantine for a certain period is necessary to check whether those monitored are infected, he said.

    Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said Mexican authorities' criticism of China's quarantine moves could slightly affect their relations.

    "If the flu had broken out in China and other countries had taken similar action, I don't think Beijing would have complained," he said, pointing out that China has also quarantined its own citizens returning from Mexico.

    "(But) we can understand the Mexican reaction, which has been affected by their domestic situation. Not many will mention it after two or three weeks," he said.

    Most Chinese online users also support the decision to quarantine Mexicans.

    A poll by major information portal Sina.com showed that 92.5 percent of 4,263 online users said the quarantine was "a necessary preventive method and had nothing to do with discrimination".

    China offered 5 million U.S. dollars in aid to Mexico last Wednesday - 1 million dollars in cash and 4 million dollars in medical supplies - the first country to send aid after the epidemic broke out. Mexican President Felipe Calderon received the Air China chartered flight carrying the supplies on Friday.

    The second batch of aid material reached Monday.

    In China, the authorities have beefed up preventive measures.

    The Ministry of Health (MOH) said Monday although the mainland has not yet reported any cases of H1N1, there is a possibility of the virus making its way.

    The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said Monday six more supervision teams had been sent to Shandong, Hebei, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces to work with local authorities in epidemic prevention. It sent five teams to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in late April.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) Monday raised its tally of confirmed human H1N1 cases to 1,003 with 26 confirmed deaths. Twenty countries and regions have reported laboratory-confirmed cases so far. Mexico, the center of the outbreak, has reported 590 cases and 25 deaths from the virus.

    (Source: chinadaily.com.cn)

Chinese nationals leave Mexico City in chartered plane

    MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government.

    The plane took off from international airport Benito Juarez at about 3:05 a.m. local time (0805 GMT), heading towards Tijuana, northern city on the U.S.-Mexico border, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China. Full story

FM: China's bans on pigs, pork imports in line with WTO rules

    BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China's temporary bans on the imports of pigs and pork products from some regions hit by the A-strain influenza are in line with the rules of the World Trade Organizations (WTO), Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said here Tuesday.

    China's emergency measures, to safeguard its stock industry and human health from the A/H1N1 virus, are also in accordance with the rules of the World Organization for Animal Health, Ma told a regular press conference. Full story

China says quarantine of Canadian students legal

    BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China defended on Tuesday its quarantine of 25 Canadian students in Changchun, capital of northeastern Jilin Province, saying it was in accordance with law and the Canadians had assented to it.

    The students began a seven-day quarantine period at a hotel on May 2 when they arrived, the same day that Canada confirmed 51 cases of A/H1N1 epidemic infection, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu. Full story

China Exclusive: Quarantined Chinese citizens say life boring, but easy

    BEIJING, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Quarantined Chinese citizens said Tuesday that they understand the medical measures taken to prevent the spread of influenza A/H1N1, despite the boredom of isolation.

    "Quarantine is boring, but easy. We watch TV and read newspapers to kill time," said a woman surnamed Wen, who is under the seven-day quarantine period at a hotel in Beijing after returning from Mexico. Full story

China vows to keep killer flu out of border while sending chartered plane to Mexico

    BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang on Monday vowed to keep the worsening global epidemic of influenza A/H1N1 out of China's border, while the same day the government sent a chartered plane to Mexico to pick up around 200 stranded Chinese nationals.

    "The most important work at present was to strictly check on border entry" as the killer disease has been mainly reported overseas, Li gave the direction during a visit to the Ministry of Health. Full story

China's chartered flight arrives in Mexico to bring back nationals

    MEXICO CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A chartered flight from China arrived early Tuesday in Mexico City to bring back some 99 nationals stranded in Mexico, the epicenter of the A/H1N1 flu outbreak.

    The aircraft Boeing 777-200 arrived at about 1:50 a.m. (0750 GMT) early Tuesday at international airport Benito Juarez to lift 79 Chinese citizens stranded in the capital. Full story

China hopes Mexico understands its necessary precautions against influenza A/H1N1

    BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday defended its medical quarantine of some passengers who had traveled on the same flight with a Mexican man who was infected with influenza A/H1N1.

    "The measures concerned are not targeted at Mexican citizens and there is no discrimination," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu in a press release. Full story

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