On Tuesday, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell stated the U.S. is thinking about reducing travel advisories for its citizens going to China, in response to concerns that such warnings have hindered exchanges between Americans and the Chinese.
Campbell said at an event by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations that talks between the U.S. and China are back to normal after some tense months. He also talked about the concern over more Chinese people moving to the U.S. for work. But, he warned that China supporting Russia’s actions in Ukraine could make things difficult between the U.S. and China again.
The State Department regularly updates its travel warnings for Americans planning trips to China, advising them to either rethink their travel plans or be more cautious. This is because of the risks related to “arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” exit bans, and the possibility of being wrongfully detained.
Despite the tensions, the leaders of the two nations are focusing on reviving personal and cultural interactions as a key strategy to navigate the escalating geopolitical competition. Last Tuesday, President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a direct and productive conversation, tackling various challenging matters that have been testing the relationship between the two leading powers.
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but I would just simply say that this is certainly an issue under active consideration,” Campbell said when asked if the U.S. would ease the advisories. He said he accepted the premise that they had acted as an inhibition to academic and other exchanges.
China has issued its own travel warnings for the U.S., and criticised what it says is increasing harassment of Chinese nationals by U.S. agents at ports of entry, accusations U.S. officials have rejected. Despite China’s warnings, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students study in the United States compared with only a few hundred Americans in China.
But the State Department’s No. 2 diplomat, who has said China helped Moscow “retool” and reconstitute its military after early setbacks in its war in Ukraine, cautioned Beijing in stark terms about its “substantial” support for Russia’s war effort. “We have told China directly if this continues, it will have an impact on the U.S.- China relationship. We will not sit by and say everything’s fine,” Campbell said.
If Russia gains territory in Ukraine it will alter the balance of power in Europe in ways that are unacceptable to the U.S Campbell said.
“And we will see this not as just a Russian unique set of activities, but a conjoined set of activities backed by China, but also North Korea,” he said.
Campbell also said potentially “hundreds of thousands” of Chinese migrants fleeing weaker economic conditions in China have come to the U.S. in recent months, and that Beijing was
aware but did not seem to be taking steps to curtail the flow.
“The numbers that we’re seeing are large and, frankly, of gathering concern,” Campbell said.
With Inputs from Reuters
