US and Chinese flags are seen at the People’s Bank of China prior to the arrival of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Beijing on April 8, 2024.
Pedro Pardo | AFP | Getty Images
The US is considering easing advisories against its citizens traveling to China, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Tuesday, acknowledging concerns that the warnings could have reduced American trade. and Chinese.
Communication channels between Washington and Beijing have largely normalized after months of heightened tensions, Campbell said at an event hosted by the non-profit National Committee on US-China Relations.
However, he also warned that Chinese support for Russia’s war in Ukraine jeopardized stabilizing ties.
The State Department has periodically issued tiered warnings for Americans traveling to China, calling on them to reconsider visits or exercise caution because of the dangers of “arbitrary enforcement of local law,” exit ban and false imprisonment.
But the presidents of the two countries sought to rebuild people-to-people exchanges as a pillar for managing the rising geopolitical competition between the superpowers.
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but I’ll just say it’s certainly an issue under active consideration,” Campbell said when asked if the US would ease the advisories. He said he accepted the premise that they acted as an inhibition to academic and other exchanges.
China has issued its own travel warnings for the US, and criticized what it says is an increase in harassment of Chinese citizens by US agents at ports of entry, accusations that US officials deny.
Despite China’s warnings, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students study in the United States compared to only a few hundred Americans in China.
But the No. 2 State Department diplomats, who said China had helped Moscow “retool” and rebuild its military after early setbacks in its war with Ukraine, warned Beijing sternly about the “huge” its support for the Russian war effort.
“We have told China directly if this continues, it will have an impact on US-China relations. We are not going to sit back and say everything is fine,” Campbell said.
If Russia gains territory in Ukraine, it will change the balance of power in Europe in ways that are unacceptable to the US, Campbell said.
“And we will see this not as a unique set of Russian activities, but a consolidated set of activities supported by China, but also North Korea,” he said.
Campbell also said that possibly “hundreds of thousands” of Chinese migrants fleeing weaker economic conditions in China have arrived in the US in recent months, and that Beijing is aware but appears to be taking no steps to stop them. flow.
“The numbers that we’re seeing are big and, frankly, worrisome,” Campbell said.
