China issues 2 travel alerts to its citizens travelling to U.S. for crimes, police harassment

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

China on Tuesday issued two travel alerts to its citizens going to the United States. It warned them about police harassment and crime. As per the statement from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, shootings, robberies and thefts have occurred frequently in the United States. The statement urged Chinese tourists to ‘fully assess the risk’ and ‘improve their awareness of safety and security’.

The warning was issued by the Foreign Ministry, as well as the Chinese Embassy and consulates in the U.S. The warnings come amid an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies and other tensions, including trading barbs over each others’ human rights records.

In a separate warning, China’s foreign ministry said U.S. law enforcement agencies have ‘repeatedly’ used methods such as immigration and on-site interviews to ‘harass’ Chinese citizens in the U.S.

It urged Chinese nationals and Chinese-funded institutions in the US to be cautious and ‘increase awareness and strengthen preventive measures.’

The warnings come a day after the education ministry said students and academics were facing U.S. visa problems and urged them to assess the ‘risk’ of travelling to the United States.

Chinese students abroad were also urged Monday to assess the risks involved given tightened visa restrictions.

The travel alerts are valid until Dec. 31.

Travel from China to the U.S. fell 5.7 per cent in 2018 to 2.9 million visitors, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office, which collects data from U.S. Customs forms. It was the first time since 2003 that Chinese travel to the U.S. slipped from the prior year.

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