Japan, Taiwan to reopen borders for long-term residents from Sept 8

Foreigners with resident status in Japan were allowed back into the country from Tuesday following calls from the expatriate community that the ban was discriminatory.

It was.

When nation's restrict their borders to prevent foreigners from entering during Covid-19 crackdown, it's considered protecting their country from a deadly virus.

Many foreigners consider not being given special treatment discriminatory.

"The four countries and Taiwan"

Wow, just wow.

Glad that these two countries finally open up. Taiwan is a great example of a country that has battled the virus propagation successfully.

Do not let China in though, they must learn discipline first in their own country.

@wralther

Do not let China in though

I 100% agree!

Nothing new here. Still have to test and quarantine. Japanese have been traveling freely for months.

Monty - your prime minister allowed Chinese to travel here even after Covid-19 broke back in March. If you're not happy with Chinese here why didn't you protest back then?

Taiwan is a great example of a country that has battled the virus propagation successfully.

Which is why I worry for them if they restart links with Japan. I wouldn't want to see imported cases in Taiwan after all this.

You shouldn't worry for them, they're great at containing the virus.

I worry for the countries who are having a hard time containing the virus

So, all foreign nationals must participate in the National Health Insurance plan.

All foreign nationals returning to Japan have to take a PCR test 72 hours prior to departure.

Does it mean they get reimbursed the 60% of the cost they paid for the mandatory overseas PCR test?

they were abandoned in their time of need, why go back?

All they had to do was let people back in, ask they quarantine 14 days like everyone else and that was that. It was never about special treatment, it was about basic respect.

Instead they never miss an opportunity to be discriminatory.

COVID has shown nation's true colours

The virus is everywhere. Those who talk about containing the virus are talking nonsense, the world is well past that stage. Mitigation is the only effective action to take now, this can be done with mass testing and local lockdowns where appropriate.

Japan has the virus. Preventing foreign residents from travelling won’t change that.

Japan has the virus. Preventing foreign residents from travelling won’t change that.

Part of containment measures/efforts.

In Australia, even citizens aren't allowed to leave

@I@n. You cannot contain the virus, that ship sailed a long time ago. Please tell me how banning foreign residents from travelling contains the virus.

You must be smarter than that lol

Can anyone here explain to me how preventing non-Japanese from travelling contains the virus? I@n doesn’t want to answer this, maybe someone else can.

The world is well past the containment stage, so I want to understand why I cannot leave and return to Japan without having to negotiate the arbitrary barriers ordered by the government. Anyone?