US State Department warns US citizens to reconsider China travel

Washington/Beijing – Considering the current unilateral activities of Chinese agencies, various types of sanctions and threats of arrest, China is becoming dangerous for US citizens. Therefore, the US State Department has warned that Americans should reconsider plans to visit or travel to China. It also said that the Chinese Communist government made major changes in the law related to foreign nationals, companies and espionage in the last few days. According to this, Chinese agencies are free to take action against foreign nationals and companies. Considering this, US’s warning to its citizens draws much attention.

Moreover, the US State Department has issued a China travel advisory on its website. It has given a Level 3 warning to US citizens to reconsider travelling to China. The US advisory has shed light on China’s reality by saying, ‘The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) arbitrarily enforces local laws, including issuing exit bans on citizens of the US and other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law.’

The US State Department has warned that ‘US citizens travelling or residing in the PRC may be detained without access to US consular services or information about their alleged crime. PRC authorities appear to have broad discretion to deem a wide range of documents, data, statistics, or materials as state secrets and detain and prosecute foreign nationals for alleged espionage.’

The State Department’s warning is believed to be against the backdrop of the sentencing of a US citizen on espionage charges and a crackdown on major US companies in May. In April 2021, Chinese agencies detained a US citizen named John Shing-Wan Leung in Hong Kong. In May, Leung was sentenced to life imprisonment on espionage charges. Apart from Leung, some US citizens are still said to be in China’s custody. China has also started taking action against US companies.

At the same time, the possibility of a US-China conflict breaking out on the Taiwan issue has increased, and the major agencies and officials of the United States have been constantly drawing attention to it. Besides, US officials say China can attack Taiwan in the next few years to assert its authority. As Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Martin Meiners recently warned, it is impossible to rule out the possibility of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait. Against the backdrop of this possibility, the US has started preparing to evacuate its citizens from Taiwan, a recently published report said.

Given this, US’s warning to its citizens regarding travel to China becomes significant. Meanwhile, even as the US State Department issued the travel advisory, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is arriving in China on Thursday on a four-day visit.