US clamps fresh restrictions on Chinese diplomats
The United States announced on Wednesday it is imposing new requirements on Chinese diplomats, who will now need approval before visiting university campuses, meeting with U.S. government officials and hosting cultural events with more than 50 people outside mission properties.
“For years, the PRC has imposed significant barriers on American diplomats working in the PRC that are far beyond diplomatic norms,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in a statement released by the State Department.
Pompeo said Washington’s latest move was a response to Beijing’s long-standing restrictions, citing a system of opaque approval processes that has prevented American diplomats from conducting regular business, hosting cultural events and securing official meetings.
“These new requirements on PRC diplomats are a direct response to the excessive restraints already placed on our diplomats by the PRC, and they aim to provide further transparency on the practices of the PRC government,” he wrote.
China’s Washington embassy has urged the U.S. to “revoke its unjustified restriction on Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel.”
“This has grossly trampled on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and China is firmly opposed to it,” the embassy said, adding the move “runs counter to the self-proclaimed values of openness and freedom of the U.S. side.”
The U.S. State Department also said in the statement that actions will be taken to ensure all Chinese embassy and consular social media accounts are “properly identified.”
Pompeo said he has planned to discuss China and other regional issues with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other Indo-Pacific countries next week.
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