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News > U.S.

US Restricts Chinese Diplomats' Cultural Events, Campus Visits

  • A protester shouts pro-China slogans outside the building of the former US consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China. July 27, 2020.

    A protester shouts pro-China slogans outside the building of the former US consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China. July 27, 2020. | Photo: EFE/EPA/Alex Plavevski

Published 2 September 2020
Opinion

The U.S. government now says that senior Chinese diplomats will need prior State Department authorization before visiting U.S. college campuses and holding cultural events with more than 50 people outside mission grounds.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo casts the move as a response to what he says are Beijing's restrictions on U.S. diplomatic personnel based in China, another escalation in the Trump administration's campaign alleging China is engaged in influence operations and espionage.

"We're simply demanding reciprocity. Access for our diplomats in China should be reflective of the access that Chinese diplomats in the United States have, and today's steps will move us substantially in that direction," Pompeo told a news briefing on Wednesday.

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The decision is the latest of recent moves to limit China's activities in the country as the November presidential elections approach. The two countries' relations have worsened in recent months over disputes regarding trade, Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, TikTok, Huawei, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Since last year the Trump administration has racketed up sanctions and restrictions on Chinese officials, government agencies, and businesses, including travel limits imposed on diplomats, registration requirements for Chinese media outlets, and ordering the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, which prompted Beijing to shut down the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.

 
The attack on diplomats' access to colleges and universities comes amidst a recent letter sent by Keith Krach, State Department under-secretary for economic growth, to the governing boards of U.S. universities warning of "threats" posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
 
"Threats can come in the form of illicit funding for research, intellectual property theft, intimidation of foreign students, and opaque talent recruitment efforts," said Pompeo, whose State Department since February has required Chinese educational institutions and media outlets to register as foreign missions given their alignment with Beijing.
 
Pompeo said he was hopeful that all Chinese Confucius Institute cultural centers, for example, would be closed on U.S. campuses by the end of the year, and that universities could assure they had "clean" investment and endowment funds "by taking a few key steps to disclose all (Chinese) companies' investments invested in endowment funds, especially those in emerging-market index funds," leading to fears of further targeted sanctions against Chinese entities. 
 
 

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China United States Diplomatic Relations State Department Universities

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Mike Pompeo Donald Trump Xi Jingping

Al Jazeera
by teleSUR/les-MS
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