Washington

China has termed the Biden administration's decision to suspend 44 flights to China from the United States as very unreasonable as tension rose between the two countries amid tit-for-tat suspensions.

Earlier, the Biden administration had announced that 44 flights to China from the United States would be suspended in retaliation to the Chinese government's decision to suspend some US flights over COVID-19 concerns.

"It is very unreasonable for the US to suspend Chinese airlines' flights on this ground," Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington told Sputnik. "We urge the US side to stop disrupting and restricting the normal passenger flights operated by Chinese airlines," Pengyu said.

The suspension of flights from the US to China will come into force on January 30. The flights that will be affected include those from carriers like Xiamen Airlines, China Southern Airlines Company, and Air China, Sputnik reported.

China recently cancelled some flights from the US due to a surge of passengers testing positive for COVID-19.

On January 19, the Civil Aviation Authority of China had announced the suspension of 44 passenger flight segments to China by US carriers despite repeated objections from the Biden administration.