EU, Beijing heading for collision over China’s COVID crisis

By RAF CASERT
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and China are moving closer to a political standoff over the COVID-19 crisis. Beijing vehemently rejects travel restrictions some EU nations have started to impose and which could be expanded over the coming days. An EU offer of help that includes vaccine donations was also as good as slapped down Tuesday. Instead, Beijing insisted the situation was “under control” and that it had medical provisions “in adequate supply.” And as the 27-nation bloc moved closer to imposing some sort of restrictions on travelers from China, Beijing threatened countermeasures. The EU wants to take some sort of joint action to ensure incoming passengers from China would not transmit any potential new variants to the continent.