Beijing urges US to lift visa restrictions on Chinese officials

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - As the US imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials, Beijing on Tuesday asked Washington to revert the move or face reciprocal actions.

“We urge the US to immediately revoke its so-called sanctions against Chinese officials. Otherwise, the Chinese side will take reciprocal countermeasures,” Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in Beijing.

On Monday, the US State Department said it is taking action against Chinese officials for their alleged involvement in “repressive acts against members of ethnic and religious minority groups and religious and spiritual practitioners inside and outside of China’s borders, including within the US.”

“The US rejects efforts by PRC (Peoples Republic of China) officials to harass, intimidate, surveil, and abduct members of ethnic and religious minority groups, including those who seek safety abroad, and US citizens, who speak out on behalf of these vulnerable populations,” said a statement by State Department.

“Today’s action imposes visa restrictions on PRC officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, policies or actions aimed at repressing religious and spiritual practitioners, members of ethnic minority groups, dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists, labor organizers, civil society organizers, and peaceful protestors in China and beyond,” it added.

Washington called on Beijing to “cease its acts of transnational repression, including attempting to silence Uyghur American activists and other Uyghur individuals serving the American people by denying exit permission to their family members in China.”