The Trump administration ordered a suspension of flights on Wednesday from China to the United States as tensions escalate between the two countries over the coronavirus and Hong Kong.
The order, which takes effect June 16, stems from China’s refusal to allow U.S. carriers to resume flying to China. Four Chinese airlines currently fly to China from the U.S.: Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Xiamen.
President Donald Trump imposed travel restrictions on China on Jan. 31 as the coronavirus began to spread early this year. His decision came after Delta, American and United and other major international carriers had stopped flying to China because of the outbreak.
In early January, U.S. and Chinese carriers operated 325 scheduled flights a week between the two countries. By mid-February, four Chinese airlines operated 20 flights per week. In mid-March, the Chinese carriers increased their weekly flights to 34.
In a March 26 decision, China’s civil aviation agency limited foreign airlines to one weekly flight into China, aiming to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Two major American carriers, Delta and United, have been pressing Chinese officials to allow them to resume service, to no avail.
The latest move comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China, which some have warned amount to a new “cold war” between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump has accused China of a coronavirus cover-up, suggested the government may have allowed the disease to spread and threatened to extract a “substantial” price from Beijing for the pandemic. And last week, Trump blasted China for President Xi Jinping’s move to impose sweeping new restrictions on Hong Kong, aimed a stifling the territory’s pro-democracy movement.
Chinese officials have charged the Trump administration with willful ignorance, dangerous mismanagement and even attempted “blackmail.” In response to the Trump administration’s criticisms of its Hong Kong crackdown, Chinese officials have pointed to the unrest in the U.S. over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck.
“I can’t breathe,” Hua Chunying, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, tweeted last week, echoing Floyd’s words during the police encounter.
Her tweet came after the State Department’s chief spokeswoman called on the world to “hold to account the Chinese Communist Party, which has flagrantly broken its promises to the people of Hong Kong.”
Some experts fear the spiraling tensions could jeopardize the much-touted trade deal that Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Lui He signed at the White House in January – a “phase one” agreement that White House officials said would be followed by a broader pact dealing with more contentious issues.
It’s unclear if China will be willing or able to follow through on its commitments in the phase one agreement, which included a promise to buy an extra $200 billion in American goods and services over the next two years.
___
© 2020 USA Today
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
