BEIJING — The United States has advised Americans to reconsider traveling to China due to arbitrary law enforcement and exit bans and the risk of unfair detention.
No specific cases were cited, but the notice came after a 78-year-old US citizen was sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges in May.
It also followed the passage last week of a sweeping Foreign Relations Law that threatens countermeasures against those seen as harming China’s interests.
China also recently passed a widely written counter-espionage law that has sent chills through the foreign business community, with office raids, as well as a law to punish foreign critics.
“The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) arbitrarily enforces local laws, including issuing exit bans to US citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law,” the US notice said. .
“TO US, citizens traveling to or residing in the PRC may be detained without access to US consular services or information about their alleged crime,” he warned.
The notice also said that Chinese authorities “appear to have broad discretion to treat a wide range of documents, data, statistics or materials as state secrets and to detain and prosecute foreign nationals for suspected espionage.”
He listed a wide range of possible crimes, from participating in demonstrations to sending emails critical of Chinese policies or even simply conducting investigations in areas deemed sensitive.
Exit bans could be used to force people to participate in Chinese government investigations, pressure family members to return from abroad, resolve civil disputes in favor of Chinese citizens, and “gain influence in negotiations with Chinese citizens.” foreign governments,” the notice said.
