US warns citizens against travel to China, Hong Kong citing COVID-19, arbitrary detention

The United States has issued a Level 3 travel advisory for its citizens travelling China and Hong Kong citing fears over COVID-19 and "arbitrary enforcement of local laws".

As per the US authorities, the people often get to know about the ban as they try to exit China. It added that as of present, there is no reliable method of finding out for how long the ban might last or if there is a way to contest it a court of law.

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China using local laws to their benefit

As per the US State Department press release, China was carrying out wrongful and unlawful detentions as well as banning US citizens from leaving the country. It also claimed that Chinese authorities were using exit bans and other local laws to compel US citizens to take part in local governmental investigations, pressure people to recall family members from abroad and to influence local authorities to resolve disputes in favour of Chinese citizens.

As per the advisory, "US citizens travelling or residing in the PRC or Hong Kong, maybe detained without access to US consular services or information about their alleged crime. US citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention without due process of law. Security personnel may detain and/or deport US citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the PRC government”.

Read: US State Department Webpage On Xinjiang 'full Of Lies And Rumours': China

In addition, the advisory also warned that China does not recognize dual citizenship and therefore US-PRC citizens and US citizens of Chinese heritage were likely to be subjected to additional harassment by the authorities and may even prevent the US embassy from providing support.

The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now spread all across the world. The virus, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organisation, has infected over 29 million people worldwide with the global death toll reaching over 900,000.

(Input/Image Credit ANI)

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