The national flags of the United States and China wave outside a building.
Teh Eng Koon | AFP via Getty Images
The United States has called on its citizens to “exercise greater caution” in China due to a “greater risk of arbitrary arrest,” a claim criticized by the Chinese media backed by the Global Times state as a “blatant distortion of the truth. “
The U.S. notice was issued on Saturday and did not specify what caused the alert.
But it came amid worsening relations between the United States and China over a series of issues including Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong, as well as alleged human rights violations by Chinese officials in Xinjiang and Tibet.
“The exercise increased caution in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) due to the arbitrary application of local laws for purposes other than the maintenance of law and order. This arbitrary application may include detention and the use of exit bans. “said the notice.
“American citizens can be detained without access to US consular services or information about their alleged crime,” he added.
The notice also said that US citizens may be “subjected to prolonged interrogation and prolonged detention for reasons related to ‘state security'” and warned that they could be detained and / or deported “for sending critical private electronic messages from the US government. RPC “.
The Chinese state-backed publication Global Times, citing a professor at the Chinese Foreign University, accused the United States of exaggerating fears about China and a “blatant distortion” of how Chinese authorities enforce the laws of the country. Global Times is a tabloid of the People’s Daily, which is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China.
The report says foreigners will only be arrested for “solid evidence of illegal acts” and not “only for a few critical comments.”
Relations between the United States and China have been the worst in decades. But the United States is not alone in warning its citizens of the potential risk that the laws may be arbitrarily applied within Chinese territory.
Last week, Australia advised its citizens not to travel to Hong Kong and reconsider their need to stay in the city, due to uncertainties surrounding the new national security law there. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.
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