The U.S. State Department has strengthened its travel warning for China, adding more explicit cautions about wrongful detention, exit bans, scrutiny of Chinese Americans and surveillance of electronic communications — including messages sent outside China.
Mainland China remains at Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, and the department said the Sept. 4 update did not change the advisory level or its formal risk indicators. But the revised State Department travel advisory now tells Americans to exercise increased caution because of “the arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” exit bans imposed without a fair legal process and the “risk of unjust arrest or detention.”
The advisory says China’s broad national-security, counterespionage and data-security laws give authorities wide discretion to question or detain foreigners, including for activities that would ordinarily be considered routine research or business. U.S. citizens of Chinese heritage, people involved in business disputes and those with current or former ties to U.S. law enforcement, the military, intelligence agencies or other government bodies may face heightened scrutiny.
The State Department said China has “disproportionately targeted” U.S. citizens of Chinese heritage and naturalized Americans of Chinese descent in espionage investigations, particularly those with past employment or other relationships with the U.S. government. It warns that Americans with Chinese heritage or U.S. government connections could face “harassment, arrest, detention, or exit ban.”
China does not recognize dual nationality, the department said, and travelers entering on Chinese-issued documents may be treated solely as Chinese citizens, potentially limiting U.S. consular assistance. The advisory also says Chinese authorities have imposed exit bans on natural-born and naturalized U.S. citizens of Chinese descent even when they entered China on U.S. passports.
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Exit bans can last years
The updated advisory provides unusually detailed warnings about China’s use of exit bans, which can prevent people from leaving the country even when they have not been charged with a crime.
According to the State Department, China has used exit bans to compel cooperation with government or Chinese Communist Party investigations, influence civil disputes, pressure relatives overseas to return to China and “gain bargaining leverage over foreign governments.” Americans may not discover that an exit ban exists until they attempt to leave the country.
The department said security and investigative agencies have imposed restrictions through “non-transparent CCP-led processes outside of the court system,” sometimes without an effective way to challenge them in court. Even minor U.S. citizen children have been prevented from leaving China in cases involving relatives under investigation.
In some of the most serious allegations contained in the advisory, the U.S. Embassy said Americans reported being “forced to sign statements Chinese officials know to be untrue.”
Chinese officials have also allegedly told Americans that exit bans would “only be lifted if they provide certain testimony,” even after the Americans said the testimony would be false. The State Department said some bans linked to commercial or civil disputes have lasted years and prevented Americans from traveling abroad for needed medical treatment.
US warns Chinese apps may be monitored abroad
The advisory also expands its warnings about electronic surveillance, telling Americans to assume Chinese security agencies can access emails, text messages and social-media communications sent to or from China.
“Assume that China’s security services can read your emails, texts, and social media posts,” the State Department guidance says.
The warning extends beyond China’s borders. Americans should also assume Chinese authorities can access their communications when they use Chinese applications “even when you are in another country, including the United States,” according to the advisory.
The State Department says people have been detained over private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government, Hong Kong, Macau or the CCP, including messages sent while outside China. It also warns that travelers should have “no expectation of privacy” on Chinese mobile and internet networks and says Chinese service providers are required to give intelligence and security agencies access to data and infrastructure.
The advisory extends similar cautions to academics and educators, saying foreign researchers have faced detention for accessing publicly available information and that foreign teachers or students expressing views contrary to Communist Party positions could be detained or expelled.
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