China quarantines Mexicans over swine flu fears

Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has denounced the quarantining of Mexican tourists and business people by Chinese health authorities keen to prevent the spread of swine flu as “discriminatory and ungrounded,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Although only one Mexican in China has been confirmed as carrying the H1N1 virus, Mexican officials say more than 70 people are currently in isolation around China. Espinosa said they were behing held in “unacceptable conditions,” adding that the government is advising Mexicans to stay away from China. Authorities in China have been rounding up all travelers aboard an AeroMéxico flight that arrived Thursday in Shanghai. The passengers included a 25-year-old Mexican man, who is now ill with the H1N1 flu in Hong Kong. Zhang Jianshu, head of the news office at the Beijing Health Bureau, denied that Mexicans are being treated unfairly, noting that many Chinese passengers are also in isolation. “There is no discrimination at all. We treat all people the same,” he said.