Flu-stranded travelers return home

BEIJING, May 6 (UPI) -- Two-hundred Chinese stranded in Mexico and 150 Mexicans kept in China due to China's H1N1 flu concerns were allowed to go home, a Chinese official said.

Chinese officials had isolated the Mexican travelers, including several diplomats, as a response to the flu outbreak thought to have originated in Mexico. China also suspended all flights to and from Mexico, stranding the Chinese citizens in the Latin American country, China Daily reported Wednesday.

Liang Wannian, a spokesman for the Beijing municipal government's task force formed after the 2003 SARS epidemic, said local authorities acted in accordance with international practice.

"Our decision to send the foreigners back is based on their willingness to leave as well as the need to safeguard their health," Liang said. "Our practice of quarantining foreigners is also in line with the law on the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and the frontier health and quarantine law of China."

Premier Wen Jiabao said the government would maintain its strict medical exams and follow-ups on travelers from flu-affected countries and regions, China Daily said.

China had drawn the ire of Mexican leaders, who charged the Asian country's response to the outbreak of H1N1 flu -- formerly called swine flu -- singled out travelers from Mexico.