Under Medium-High Intensity Counterintelligence Law... US Advises Its Citizens to "Reconsider Traveling to China"

As China enforces a strengthened Counter-Espionage Law this month, the U.S. government has advised its citizens to exercise caution when traveling to China.

On the 3rd (local time), according to the U.S. Department of State website, the U.S. government recently expressed concerns about the possibility of arbitrary detention in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and recommended reconsidering travel to these regions.

The Department of State stated, "The Chinese government enforces local laws arbitrarily without fair and transparent procedures. This includes measures such as exit bans on U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries," and expressed concern that "the Department of State believes there is a risk that U.S. nationals may be wrongfully detained in China." It also explained, "U.S. citizens traveling or residing in China may be detained without information about criminal charges and without access to consular services," adding that "foreigners such as businesspeople, former government officials, scholars, relatives of Chinese nationals, and journalists have been interrogated and detained on allegations of violating national security laws."

Specifically, the advisory mentioned ▲the possibility of prosecuting foreigners on espionage charges by broadly classifying documents and data as state secrets ▲the potential punishment for sending electronic messages criticizing the Chinese government, Hong Kong, or Macau. It also noted that since China does not recognize dual nationality, dual nationals of the U.S. and China or Chinese Americans may face additional scrutiny or harassment.

Since the 1st of this month, the Chinese government has been enforcing a revised Counter-Espionage Law that adds "the espionage, acquisition, purchase, or illegal provision of confidential information and documents or data related to national security and interests" to acts considered espionage. This means that even searching for or storing statistical data related to national security and interests could be subject to regulation. There is a significant possibility that this could be interpreted in a "catch-all" manner. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. Ambassador to China, recently expressed concern via his Twitter account, stating, "U.S. businesses, scholars, and journalists should be aware of this worrisome revision to China's Counter-Espionage Law."

Alongside this, China has also enacted the Foreign Relations Law. This law provides a domestic legal basis for countermeasures against foreign actions deemed to threaten China's sovereignty, security, and development interests. It includes provisions stating that China "has the right to take corresponding counterattacks and restrictive measures against acts that violate international law and basic norms of international relations and infringe upon China's sovereignty, security, and development interests." This is interpreted as an attempt to strengthen legal legitimacy for retaliatory measures in conflicts with the West, including the U.S.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.