China claps back with reciprocal restrictions on US diplomats following Trump's sanctions

In a growing diplomatic spat, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian announced that Beijing has sent a note detailing 'reciprocal restrictions' on the US Embassy and consulates on Friday, September 11. The move comes in response to US sanctions on Chinese individuals.

As per reports, even the consulate-general in Hong Kong and its personnel have been included in the Chinese restrictions. Lijian stated that these reciprocal restrictions were meant to urge the US to repeal its own restrictions which China has deemed as ‘wrong decisions’.

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China has taken 'Legitimate' and 'necessary' steps

The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that China’s decision to respond to the US with reciprocal restrictions was ‘legitimate’ and even necessary. Despite these restrictions, China plans to maintain normal interaction and its embassy and consulates will continue to operate as usual.

Chinese individuals and entities, like major tech companies, have lately been a target of US sanctions. On August 6, US President Donald Trump passed two executive orders threatening sanctions against Chinese applications like TikTok and WeChat unless their parent companies sold these apps to US holding companies. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has alleged that Chinese Social media apps like TikTok feed private user information to Beijing and claimed that these apps thus pose a major security risk.

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China accuses US of Abusing National Security Concept

Meanwhile, China has accused the United States of abusing the concept of national security to oppress non-American companies after US President Donald Trump denied the possibility of a deadline extension for the sale of TikTok operations.

The executive orders signed by Trump will prevent American citizens and businesses from doing any transaction with TikTok, its parent company ByteDance Ltd., and messaging app WeChat unless sold within 45 days of the order. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has opposed the attempts by the United States to use its power to oppress specific companies of other countries.

(Input Credit ANI)

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