- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

US Tightens Visa Limits on Chinese Communist Party Officials Amid Spike in US-China Trade Tensions

© AP Photo / Ng Han Guan, FileChinese man stands near a screen displaying the Chinese national flag
Chinese man stands near a screen displaying the Chinese national flag - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The measures come after US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in November the US was "not finished yet" with China, calling the nation's ruliing party a "Marxist-Leninist monster" that was "authoritarian, brutish and antithetical to human freedom".

Washington has further restricted travel visas for Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members as tensions continue to mount between China and the United States, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

A Chinese policeman holds a Chinese Communist Party flag  - Sputnik International
Asia
Red Lines: China Will Not Allow Divisions Between CCP, Chinese People, Xi Jinping Says At WWII Event
The new measures entered force on Wednesday and will restrict CCP members and their families to receive single-entry visa limited to one month. Party members were previously allowed multiple-entry visas up to 10 years, the report read.

“The CCP and its members actively work in the U.S. to influence Americans through propaganda, economic coercion, and other nefarious activities. For decades we allowed the CCP free and unfettered access to U.S. institutions and businesses while these same privileges were never extended freely to U.S. citizens in China,” an emailed statement from a US Embassy spokesperson read.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Party has roughly 92m members as of 2019.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry slammed the new restrictions and called on the US to "abandon their hatred toward the CPC", a Global Times report read.

It added that Beijing firmly opposed the move as it was "not in line with [the] US' own interests", citing comments from spokesperson Hua Chunying at a media briefing on Thursday.

"I hope that some people in the US can view China and China's development in a more rational, calm and objective manner, give up their hatred towards the CPC, enhance correct understanding of each other through exchanges, dialogue and communication and promote healthy and stable development of China-US relations," she said.

Pompeo previously slapped visa restrictions on CCP officials in June for allegedly "eviscerating Hong Kong's freedoms".

But Chinese president Xi Jinping vowed at an event in early October to "uphold the leadership" of the CCP and never allow foreign forces to separate the Chinese people from the Party, citing five scenarios, just months after Beijing's Hong Kong national security law entered force in August.

US Trade War on China Intensifies Amid Fresh Measures

The measures come amid a wave of restrictions on trade and visas from Washington amid US president Donald Trump's trade war, days before he is expected to leave the White House.

Washington has cited several key issues, including the Hong Kong national security law, ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and alleged intellectual property theft, among others, for its campaign.

The US House of Representatives approved a bill that could remove Chinese firms from US exchanges such as the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) if unable to audit their finances.

A Chinese firm with reported links to the Chinese military saw cotton imports banned after the US accused it of using "slave labour", citing alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The Trump administration also slapped 89 Chinese aerospace firms and 28 Russian companies with alleged ties to the Chinese military, restricting their access to key US technologies, including engine parts and components.

The news comes just days after Beijing sanctioned four officials linked to the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) for "egregious" behaviour and meddling in domestic affairs in Hong Kong.

The officials have been barred from entering China, Hong Kong and Macao, reports read.

US national security advisor Robert O'Brien has attempted to rally support for a Western alliance aimed at countering measures from Beijing, citing alleged aggression in the South China Sea and import restrictions on Australian exports.

Minister of Trade and Industry of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov talks with Jin Zhuanglong, chairman of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), during an unveil ceremony at an air show, the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, November 2, 2016.  - Sputnik International
World
Washington Blacklists 117 Chinese, Russian Aviation Firms In Last-Ditch Effort in US-China Trade War
The Trump administration launched a contentious trade war with Beijing, blacklisting over 70 Chinese tech firms, including Huawei Technologies, ZTE and SMIC in May last year, citing national security concerns.

Washington later designated Huawei and ZTE national security risks, without citing evidence, for alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party and military. Both firms have repeatedly and sharply denied the claims and demanded to see evidence, which the US has not submitted to date.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала