Americans in China are being warned by the U.S. State Department to exercise “increased caution,” due to an elevated risk of arbitrary law enforcement, including detention and bans on exiting the country.
“Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government,” the alert said. It didn’t provide specific examples.
The department didn’t say what prompted the notice.
The move comes amid deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing as the Trump administration steps up its actions against the communist regime over a range of issues, from its coverup of the CCP virus outbreak to its tightening control over Hong Kong. Australia issued a similar warning this week for travelers to China.
Earlier this week, the United States announced sanctions on several Chinese officials, including a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party involved in rights abuses against ethnic minorities in the region of Xinjiang. An estimated more than 1 million Uyghur Muslims and other Muslim minorities are detained in Xinjiang, as part of the regime’s purported clampdown on what it calls “extremism.”
Federal prosecutors accuse Meng of lying to banks, causing them to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran.
The Canadian government has repeatedly described the detention of Kovrig and Spavor as “arbitrary.” The pair have been reportedly interrogated by Chinese officials for up to eight hours a day, held in poor conditions, and denied outside contact.
The men also haven’t been allowed to see their lawyers, and neither has been seen by Canadian consular officials, in person or virtually, since January.
