China to punish foreigners who violate border quarantine rules

Foreign nationals, like Chinese nationals, will be punished if their behavior amounts to the crime of impairing frontier quarantine measures while arriving in China, an official with the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Tuesday.

"No matter it's a Chinese citizen, a foreign citizen, or a stateless person, their acts will comply with Chinese laws and judicial standards, and they will be held criminally responsible," the official said.

China has tightened border quarantine against infectious diseases with a guideline issued on March 16 warning arrivals that they could face criminal penalties if they do not abide by relevant rules.

The guideline listed six kinds of behaviors that could constitute the crime of impairing frontier quarantine measures, targeting individuals who spread or risk spreading a "quarantinable infectious disease" identified by the State Council such as plague, cholera, yellow fever and COVID-19.