Chartered flights between China, Mexico

A total of 79 Chinese citizens left Mexico City early Tuesday aboard a chartered flight sent by the Chinese government. The plane took off from international airport Benito Juarez at about 3:05 AM local time (0805 GMT), heading towards Tijuana, northern city on the US-Mexico border, to lift 20 more Chinese before returning to China.

But due to bad weather, the had to land in Los Angeles, the flight operator said. The plane landed in Los Angeles at around 9:00 PM (6:00 AM local time, 1300 GMT), China Southern Airlines said, adding it depends on the weather as to when the plane will leave for Tijuana.

China sent the chartered flight after an agreement with Mexico, the epicenter of the A/H1N1 flu outbreak, to send chartered flights to each other's countries to bring back their stranded nationals.

The aircraft Boeing 777-200 is expected to return to Shanghai at 10:00 AM on Wednesday local time (0200 GMT), its operator Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines said.

China suspended direct flights from Mexico to Shanghai since Saturday after a 25-year-old Mexican man, who arrived in Shanghai Thursday aboard flight Aeromexico 098, was later diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu in Hong Kong.

Also on Tuesday, a Mexican chartered plane arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Tuesday to pick up the quarantined Mexicans who had been on the same flight with the victim.

Andres Pena, vice consul-general of Mexico in Shanghai, said those who got on the plane included 43 crew and passengers on board the AM098 and 34 others, who worked and lived in China but were not under quarantine.

Who defending quarantine

The Mexican government on Monday complained China's decision to quarantine the Mexican nationals in China.

However, World Health Organization (WHO) flu chief Keiji Fukudasaid quarantines were a "long-established principle" that make sense in the early phases of an outbreak.

"There are other countries that are taking similar actions like China, so I don't think China is standing out in this respect," said Dr. Hans Troedsson, WHO representative in China.

Wen Li, a Chinese citizen, who is under quarantine in Beijing, said she was called by disease control staff at midnight on Saturday to be placed under quarantine because she was a passenger on the AM098 flight.

"I think the quarantine is necessary and responsible for everybody, regardless of nationality," said the woman, adding that her quarantine is expected to end Wednesday evening or Thursday.