The Chinese government plans to restrict visas for some Americans, specifically those employed by the U.S. intelligence community and certain human rights groups, according to a report.
“This is not something we want to do but we don’t seem to have any choice,” an anonymous source told Reuters.
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The restrictions would require a list of U.S. military- and CIA-linked institutions and human rights groups as well as their employees for a visa blacklist, sources said, according to Reuters.
“The plan has been widely discussed by senior police officers over recent months, but made more likely to be implemented after the Hong Kong protests and the U.S. visa ban on Chinese officials,” a source told Reuters.
The decision came after the United States on Tuesday decided to deny visas for some Chinese government officials believed to be involved in human rights abuses of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region.
Tensions have been high between the U.S. and China amid anti-Communist protests in Hong Kong and upcoming high-level trade talks.
The Chinese government believes the U.S. is using intelligence and human rights organizations to spur on the protests, according to a source.
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The U.S. has also banned Chinese company Huawei Technologies from obtaining technology from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval because the U.S. suspects Huawei’s equipment could be used by China for spying, Reuters reported.