WASHINGTON (US) – Chinese diplomats in the US will now require the permission of the State Department to visit university campuses or hold cultural events with more than 50 people attending outside the mission grounds.
This is in retaliation to Beijing’s curbs on Washington diplomats in China. The curbs on Chinese diplomats are also part of the Trump administration’s campaign against Beijing’s influence and espionage.
The State Department also made it clear that proper action would be taken to ensure all social media accounts of the Chinese embassy and consulates are “properly identified.”
“We’re simply demanding reciprocity,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a briefing. “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.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington termed the move “yet another unjustified restriction and barrier on Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel” that “runs counter to the self-proclaimed values of openness and freedom of the US side.”
Pompeo also said the State Department had recently alerted US varsities about the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
“These threats can come in the form of illicit funding for research, intellectual property theft, intimidation of foreign students and opaque talent recruitment efforts,” Pompeo said.