The situation in Wuhan was first raised just over a week ago, with the imposition of quite severe quarantine restrictions on a large province. The Chinese government imposed these measures in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. With the imposition of those measures, Canadians and permanent residents in the province found themselves unable to depart. Commercial means of transportation were blocked.
Since that time, we have been working 24-7 to reach out to those Canadians and to find ways to assist them. Minister Champagne spoke yesterday about the measures being taken in terms of the evacuation flight. In cases of a humanitarian nature, such as those we see in Wuhan, our policy is to provide full services to all Canadians, permanent residents and their families, to the extent that we are able. However, the policy of the Government of China is that our consular access and services be restricted, in practice, to Canadian citizens and, in many cases, to Canadian citizens who entered China on a Canadian passport or travel document.
We've been working with the Chinese government to find a way to facilitate the exit of those Canadians on our evacuation flights. We've obtained the agreement of the Chinese government to allow permanent residents to accompany Canadian citizen children who need to evacuate that zone—which is some progress. We are continuing to advocate for others, but in the final analysis, it will be the decision of the Government of China whether they allow that. On our side, for the purposes of the Government of Canada, we are doing our best to offer those services to Canadians.