China's Anti-Ebola Plan Hits Youth Olympics

China Anti-Ebola Measures See Youth Olympic Athletes From Affected Countries

A quarantine staff member monitors body temperatures of passengers at Beijing Capital International
Airport as part of efforts to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from entering the country.

 China unveiled new measures aimed at preventing the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the nation, including a joint announcement with the International Olympic Committee on the eve of Saturday's opening of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games that athletes from affected countries won't be permitted to compete.

In a statement Friday that didn't name nations, the IOC and China's government said two athletes from the affected region won't be permitted to compete in combat sports, while a ban on competitors participating in pool events will apply to one athlete.

It said all athletes from the region will be monitored for "temperature and physical assessment," without providing their numbers. Media reports this week quoted government officials from Sierra Leone and Nigeria expressing displeasure at restrictions their athletes faced in China.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency cited an Olympic committee official as saying that Sierra Leone and Liberia have indicated they won't participate, while Guinea hasn't made its position clear.

A Nigerian official said his country's athletes had been prescreened and that he was critical of "poor treatment" of his country's athletes in China and said they won't compete.

Patrick Omorodion, media assistant to Nigeria's sports minister, said the minister "has directed that the athletes be withdrawn and return to Nigeria because we would not want to expose our youth athletes to such treatment."

China also said that from Saturday new border controls will include stricter inspections on inbound airlines from regions affected by Ebola, while stepped-up sanitary measures will apply to incoming vehicles and goods. The government also warned its citizens about the risks of travel to affected regions.

The IOC statement, produced with China's organizing committee in Nanjing, said the decision for the games was made in consultation with the World Health Organization and that the policy "balances the health needs of all, with respect for the rights of the young athletes from the region."

The second-ever Summer Youth Olympic Games, which run through Aug. 28, are expected to feature more than 3,700 athletes aged 15 to 18 representing more than 200 nations. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday watched basketball players slam dunk and shadow boxed with others ahead of a gala opening he is expected to officiate at planned for Saturday night.

China has responded forcefully to the Ebola outbreak in Africa, a continent where it has made sizable investments and actively fostered diplomatic relations. Starting in May, it began sending protective clothes, disinfectants, thermal detectors, medicines and, more recently, the government kicked off a two-year aid mission that includes its first-ever dispatch overseas of emergency medical experts.

At home, China has for several days screened travelers from West African nations. Photos in China's state press showed Nigerians wearing protective clothing during checks in airport clinics, which officials indicate have upset some incoming visitors. 

Statements posted to the websites of its embassies in Nigeria and Liberia late this week warned Chinese citizens to avoid travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and to take caution while visiting Nigeria. Citizens who arrive in China from those countries are instructed to alert border control officials of their travels and put themselves in self-monitored quarantine for three weeks, according to a notice dated Friday on China's embassy site for Sierra Leone. 

China's Foreign Ministry didn't immediately respond to questions about the government's actions regarding the youth games.

Efforts were unsuccessful over the weekend to reach consular representatives in China for Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Nigerian officials in China were quoted telling their domestic media this week that their athletes in Nanjing were facing requirements for quarantine. A Sierra Leone athletics official, Patrick Coker, said this week that China's embassy staff in his country suggested not sending athletes, according to the Associated Press, as they "might find themselves in a troubled and awkward situation once they get to China's port of entry."