The U.S. Department of State recently issued a travel advisory, warning Americans to reconsider going to China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The State Department classifies mainland China and Macau as travel advisory “Level 3,” recommending Americans “reconsider travel there” because, “The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government arbitrarily enforces local laws, including issuing exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law.”
The State Department designates Hong Kong as travel advisory “Level 2,” recommending Americans “exercise increased caution” when traveling there because, “The National Security Law also covers offenses committed by non-Hong Kong SAR residents or organizations outside of the Hong Kong SAR, which could subject U.S. citizens who have been publicly critical of the PRC and/or the administration of the Hong Kong SAR to a heightened risk of arrest, detention, expulsion, or prosecution.”
The warning came as the Sino-U.S. relationship deteriorated, and the Chinese Communist Party has increasingly resorted to holding foreigners as hostages and demanding their home countries make political concessions.
The most famous examples of China’s “hostage diplomacy” were Canadian citizens Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. The Chinese government arrested the two Michaels in retaliation for Canada’s detention of Chinese telecom executive Meng Wanzhou at the behest of a U.S. extradition request (the U.S. authorities accused Meng of committing fraud and violating U.S. sanctions against Iran). The two Michaels were wrongfully detained for more than 1,000 days on trumped-up spying charges and were released after Meng reached a deal with U.S. prosecutors
