Conflicting reports on resumption of Italy-China flights
5252 Mins Read
Reuters reports that China’s foreign ministry said on Friday that Italy was willing to resume some flights between the two countries, after it suspended direct air traffic last month over worries about the coronavirus outbreak.
China’s vice foreign minister, Qin Gang, had a meeting on Thursday with Italy’s ambassador to China, Luca Ferrari, during which they discussed the issue, the ministry said.
Qin told Ferrari that Italy’s decision to stop flights without contacting China in advance had caused “great inconvenience” to citizens of both countries, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
China was “strongly dissatisfied with the overreaction and restrictions”, especially as it was trying to bring stranded citizens there home, it said.
Ferrari said Italy sympathized with the situation facing Chinese residents in Italy and at this stage, it was willing to approve some applications from Chinese airlines to resume some flights, the Chinese ministry said.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own, has expressed anger that the ban included the island too.
On the other hand, ANSA reported that Italian Foreign Ministry sources on Friday denied reports Rome was willing to partially lift its suspension of direct flights between Italy and China due to the coronavirus epidemic.
“While reiterating the deep bond of friendship between Italy and China, which has already been shown in various activities launched by the Italian government to support the Asian country in a complex, delicate moment, it is stated that the news reported by the Chinese agency Xinhua about a resumption of flights is groundless,” the sources said.
