[ad_1]
BEIJING (AFP) – China will give an “adequate and necessary” response to the new restrictions imposed by the State Department on its envoys to the United States, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday (September 3).
US top diplomat Mike Pompeo introduced the restrictions on Wednesday, including an obligation for Chinese diplomats to seek approval to visit universities or meet with local officials.
He said the measures were a counterpoint to long-established controls imposed on US diplomats in China.
US envoys have to ask the authorities for permission to meet with officials, conduct outreach activities or even visit universities.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Beijing said the permit is “routinely denied” or canceled at the last minute. Unauthorized travel to Tibet is also prohibited.
The two countries are locked in a tough power struggle over trade, security and technology, while relations have been further poisoned by coronavirus and rights issues from Hong Kong to the minority Uyghur in Xinjiang.
A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing on Thursday warned of “an adequate and necessary response” to increasing restrictions on its envoys.
The restrictions imposed on Chinese diplomats are “a grave violation of international law and the basic norms of international relations,” Ms. Hua Chunying told reporters.
Pompeo’s latest measures mean that China’s diplomats in the US will also have to seek approval for any cultural events outside of embassies or consulates that involve more than 50 people.
Additionally, the embassy’s social media accounts will need to be identified as Chinese government accounts.
The spokesman for the US embassy told AFP that the United States was not reflecting “all aspects of China’s severe limitations.”
Still, the measures will likely increase diplomatic hostilities between nations.
In July, the United States ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, prompting Beijing to close the US mission in Chengdu.
[ad_2]
