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On
Friday, the State Department announced that non-emergency
personnel could voluntarily leave the consulate. It is not clear
why the departure of those workers has become mandatory.
China's zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19, prescribing central
quarantine for anyone testing positive even in the absence of
symptoms, is increasingly strained by the highly infectious,
though less deadly, Omicron variant.
The most controversial of Shanghai's practices had been
separating COVID-positive children from their parents.
Authorities have since made some concessions.
The State Department, which last week said it had raised its
concerns about China's COVID-19 policies with Chinese officials,
cited the risk of parents and children being separated in
Monday's announcement.
The United States should "stop political manipulation under the
pretext of the epidemic, and stop smearing China", Chinese
foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing on
Tuesday in Beijing.
On Saturday, the ministry had expressed "strong dissatisfaction"
with the United States after it raised concerns over China's
coronavirus control measures.
Shanghai, fighting China's worst COVID outbreak since the virus
first emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, locked down its entire
population of 25 million but on Monday began easing movement
curbs for some residents.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; additional reporting by Martin Quin
Pollard in Beijing; editing by Dan Whitcomb, Kim Coghill and
Alex Richardson)
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