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Overreaction to coronavirus will bring about negative consequences: Chinese envoy
Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian warned Indonesia on Tuesday that “overreacting” to the deadly coronavirus would inevitably harm relations with China as well as Indonesia’s own economy.
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Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Xiao Qian speaks to the media on Tuesday. He warned Indonesia that its “overreaction” in trying to halt the spread of a coronavirus by imposing a travel ban and import bans would harm relations with China as well as Indonesia’s own economy. (JP/Dian Septiari/JP/Dian Septiari)
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ndonesia’s relationship with China looks to take another turbulent turn after the resident Chinese envoy warned Jakarta not to “overreact” in efforts to halt the spread of the deadly 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), just shortly before officials announced a ban on livestock imports from China.
Beijing has stepped up efforts to reassure countries around the world that it can control an outbreak that has spread to some two dozen countries and killed more than 420 people, amid a flurry of travel bans and other measures it may deem detrimental to the Chinese economy.
Indonesia is among the few countries that may prove to be a crucial link in keeping China’s economic gears spinning, with Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian warning on Tuesday that any overreaction would inevitably harm Indonesia’s relations with China as well as its own economy.
Citing a World Health Organization (WHO) statement saying there was no need for measures that "unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade", the envoy urged Indonesia not to take any “exaggerated measures”.
“Doing so will result in a negative impact on relations between the two countries and future cooperation and result in consequences that both parties will not want to see,” Xiao said through a translator during a rare press briefing at his official residence in Jakarta.
The outbreak, recently declared a global health emergency by the WHO, looks to have overshadowed recent tensions between Jakarta and Beijing over exclusive rights in the North Natuna Sea, Riau Islands province, just a short distance away from a coronavirus quarantine site where 242 Indonesian repatriates from China are currently being isolated and observed.
Asserting its standing as a good neighbor and friend to China, the envoy said Beijing hoped Jakarta would take preventive and mitigation measures “objectively, rationally and based on scientific facts” while adhering to international health regulations and recommendations.
