As the novel coronavirus outbreak continued in South Korea, news about South Koreans fleeing to China to seek a safe haven was spreading on China’s Internet. It would boost the confidence of the Chinese people in trusting the government’s handling of the epidemic.
The news said, “Due to the exploding number of novel coronavirus infections in South Korea, a large number of Koreans have rushed to Qingdao City, Shandong Province in China. Because the epidemic is under control in China and the treatment is free, many Koreans have fled to China. Airfare has jumped from a few hundred yuan to 6,000 yuan.”
Beijing News, a media based in Beijing, then inquired at the National Immigration Administration of China to verify the news. The office responded that, based on its statistics, airlines have cut some flights due to the coronavirus epidemic, which might have caused some increase in airfares, but overall, the number of people flying from Korea to China has increased only marginally and 70 percent of those people are Chinese citizens. “There is no sign that a large number of Koreans are rushing into China yet.”
SET News, a news media in Taiwan, reported this information.
Related posting on Chinascope:
Excerpt in Chinese:
南韓近日疫情大爆發，中國網路竟傳出，「由於韓國感染新冠肺炎人數暴漲，大量韓國人湧入青島。因為中國的疫情逐漸控制，治療也是全免費的， 所以好多韓國人都逃向了中國，機票價格從幾百元人民幣，爆漲到5、6千人民幣！」引發中國輿論一陣譁然。
針對大批南韓人入境的傳聞，中國媒體《新京報》向中國國家移民管理局求證，「近日，網絡上關於韓國來華航班爆滿、『一票難求』的消息很多，甚至有傳言說一些韓國人來中國躲避疫情，請問這個消息能否證實?對此有何評價？」
而中國國家移民管理局今日回應表示，「最近這個話題是一個熱議的焦點，國家移民管理局對最近這一段時間，中韓人員之間的人員往來情況做了統計和分析，2月23日，韓國政府宣布將新冠肺炎疫情的防控等級提升到最高級。從23日到現在，我們統計來華韓國公民入境的數量，日均是1300人。」
中國國家移民管理局指出，「從數據分析的結果看，航班滿座的情況與疫情發生以後各個航空公司壓縮了航班的數量有關，由於航班數量的減少導致機票緊張。從韓國來華的人數雖略有增加，但沒有出現太大的波動，我們也一直在監測這個動向。」
此外，中國國家移民管理局也分析，「從近期自韓國入境人員的成分看，主要以中國的內地居民為主，占到約七成，增加的人員數量當中比例也主要是內地居民居多。目前沒有發現有大量的韓國人湧入我國的情況。」
Source: SET News, March 1, 2020
https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=699245