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BEIJING: Beijing will impose “reciprocal restrictions” on all US diplomats on Chinese soil in response to restrictions on its embassy staff in the United States, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday (September 11).
Relations between the world’s two major economies have deteriorated in recent months, with both sides caught up in fierce recriminations over trade disputes, human rights, and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
China’s latest move comes days after Washington announced new restrictions on staff members working for Beijing’s foreign missions, such as a requirement to apply for approval for visits to universities or meetings with local officials.
“The Chinese side recently sent a diplomatic note announcing reciprocal restrictions on the US embassy and consulates,” the ministry said in a statement.
LEE: US says China ‘fears’ free media after new restrictions
He added that the unspecified countermeasures will apply to all US embassy and consulate personnel, including the consulate general in Hong Kong and its staff.
“It must be emphasized that these measures are China’s legitimate and necessary response to wrong moves by the United States,” the ministry said, urging the United States to “immediately correct its mistakes” and lift previous restrictions.
A tit-for-tat dispute over foreign missions erupted in July when Washington ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston, prompting Beijing to shut down the US presence in Chengdu.
READ: China says Houston consulate closure has damaged relations, warns it must retaliate
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that the new measures targeting Chinese envoys were a response to long-established controls on US diplomats in China.
Washington’s restrictions will force Chinese diplomats to request permission from the United States to hold cultural events involving more than 50 people outside of mission grounds.
They also demand that the embassy’s social media accounts publicly identify themselves as affiliated with the Chinese government.
CLIMBING Clash
The battle over foreign embassies is just one front in a growing confrontation between the United States and China.
Washington imposed sanctions on officials accused of helping orchestrate the mass internment of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang province, a program that has sparked a global outcry for human rights.
READ: US Cancels Over 1,000 Visas for Chinese Citizens Considered Security Risks
Last month he blacklisted officials whom he accused of suppressing “freedom and democratic processes” in Hong Kong, after the imposition of a national security law aimed at quelling civil unrest in the financial center.
The move prompted China to issue its own sanctions against a number of prominent Americans, including prominent senators and senior figures in US-based human rights organizations.
President Donald Trump also sparked an angry reaction from Chinese officials by blaming Beijing for the global spread of the coronavirus, saying authorities were unable to contain the pandemic in its early stages.
READ: Trump says there will be no extension of the TikTok deadline
And Washington has also accused Chinese tech companies and platforms, from Huawei to TikTok, of working in the interests of the Chinese Communist Party.
Beijing denied on Friday that it was trying to meddle in the upcoming US presidential election after US tech giant Microsoft said it had thwarted cyberattacks by foreign groups, including China, against the Republican and Democratic campaigns.
