The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has limited the movement of senior China diplomats in the name of "reciprocity."
In a tit-for-tat move U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said senior China diplomats would now be required to get federal government permission for routine activities outside diplomatic missions. "The State Department has established a mechanism requiring approval for senior Chinese diplomats in the U.S. to visit university campuses and to meet with local government officials."
China's Washington embassy called the move "yet another unjustified restriction and barrier on Chinese diplomatic and consular personnel" that "runs counter to the self-proclaimed values of openness and freedom of the U.S. side."
The restrictions also affect cultural events involving groups larger than 50 people hosted by the embassy and consular posts outside the missions. These events now require state department approval, too.
Pompeo said the state department was ensuring all official China embassy and consular social media accounts were properly identified as government accounts or China government accounts.
Pompeo said the administration was forced to take these actions to punish China for similar restrictions imposed on American diplomats. Pompeo said "we're simply demanding reciprocity...Access for our diplomats in China should be reflective of the access that Chinese diplomats in the U.S. have - and today's steps will move us substantially in that direction."
If China "eliminates the restrictions imposed on U.S. diplomats we stand ready to reciprocate," Pompeo said.
The Trump administration has taken to referring to China officially as the People's Republic of China as part of a campaign to separate the communist rulers of China from its citizens. The administration no longer refers to Xi Jinping as president of China but as either secretary-general of the Communist Party of China or chairman of the Central Military Commission. It says Xi was never elected president but appointed to his two current positions by the Communist Party.
In October the administration required diplomats from China to report in advance any official meetings and visits with state officials and local and municipal offices, educational institutions and research institutions. It said this was reciprocity for similar restrictions placed on American diplomats.
In July, the Trump administration ordered the closing of China's consulate in Houston and the expulsion of its diplomats. China retaliated by closing the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.
