China issued an unusual warning to its citizens traveling to the US to beware of “entrapment” by American law enforcement, in a fresh show of continuing bilateral tensions despite a recent step-up in engagement.
(Bloomberg) — China issued an unusual warning to its citizens traveling to the US to beware of “entrapment” by American law enforcement, in a fresh show of continuing bilateral tensions despite a recent step-up in engagement.
“Chinese nationals who travel to the US should be more vigilant, and beware of falling into US snares and arrest-entrapment,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing said Monday in a security advisory posted on the official Wechat account run by its Department of Consular Affairs.
While Beijing has regularly reminded its citizens of gun and racial violence in the US, it’s rare to explicitly point out the danger of arbitrary detention. China itself has frequently been charged of such detentions of its own people. It’s also faced accusations of running extraterritorial police operations to go after Chinese individuals — something the government denies.
Read More: China Rejects Charge It Runs ‘Illegal’ Overseas Police Stations
Monday’s warning comes on the heels of a high-profile trip to Beijing by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the second Biden administration cabinet member to visit in recent weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Yellen declared ties between the world’s two largest economies were closer to a “surer footing.”
One area where the US has called for further Chinese efforts is curbing trade in illicit synthetic drugs, to help confront the fentanyl crisis. China’s statement Monday alluded to disagreements in that regard.
The statement cited arbitrary US arrests and the cross-border abduction of Chinese citizens, characterizing the actions as based on fentanyl issues.
Last month, the Justice Department announced the arrest of two individuals and the unsealing of three indictments charging China-based companies and their employees with fentanyl-related crimes.
‘Malicious Smearing’
China’s Foreign Ministry statement also blasted the US for “malicious smearing of China’s pursuit of fugitives.”
In April, the DOJ accused 44 individuals living in China and elsewhere in Asia of harassing Chinese dissidents in the US.
China also asked its citizens in the US to pay close attention to local security situations, citing frequent incidents of gun violence and discrimination against Asians.
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