The U.S. State Department updated its travel advisory on Dec. 17, advising its citizens to “carefully consider” travel to China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, based on concerns that travelers would be subject to arbitrary enforcement of local laws. The resurgence of the outbreak in Hong Kong is also the reason for the State Department’s Level 3 guidance.
The State Department classifies global travel security into four levels, with Level 1 being the safest “exercise routine precautions,” Level 2 being “heightened vigilance,” Level 3 advising people to “consider travel carefully. “, level 4 is the most serious “do not go”. Previously, the U.S. State Department on Sept. 14 this year, citing the “improving epidemic” in China and Hong Kong, adjusted the travel warnings issued to Americans considering travel to the two places from the highest level of “Do Not Travel” to the next level of ” Consider travel with caution.
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs on Thursday updated the travel advisory to include information about the outbreak and the arbitrary enforcement of local laws faced by travelers to China and Hong Kong. The statement said, “The Chinese government arbitrarily enforces local laws, including by conducting arbitrary and wrongful detentions and using exit bans against U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries without due process of law: forcing individuals to participate in Chinese government investigations; pressuring family members to return to China from abroad; influencing Chinese authorities to resolve civil disputes in favor of Chinese citizens; and seeking foreign governments for bargaining power.”
In response to the Hong Kong issue, the statement noted, “Since the implementation of the National Security Law on June 30, 2020, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has unilaterally and arbitrarily exercised police and security powers in Hong Kong. China has demonstrated its intention to use this authority to target a wide range of activities it defines as secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign entities. The National Security Law also covers crimes committed outside of Hong Kong by non-Hong Kong residents or organizations, which could expose U.S. citizens who openly criticize China to a heightened risk of arrest, detention, deportation, or prosecution. China’s security forces, including the newly established ‘Office for Safeguarding National Security,’ currently operate in Hong Kong and are not subject to oversight by the Hong Kong judiciary.”
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