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This ban doesn’t apply to Americans here at home, like Rep. Swalwell for instance. Instead it applies to government workers and their families who are serving in China.
The US government has imposed a sweeping ban prohibiting American diplomats, their families and security-cleared contractors in China from engaging in romantic or sexual relationships with Chinese citizens, Associated Press has reported.
The policy applies to staff at the US embassy in Beijing and consulates in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang and Wuhan, as well as the consulate in Hong Kong. US personnel stationed outside China or those already in pre-existing relationships with Chinese citizens might be exempt, the report said, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.
This isn’t a new Trump administration move. On the contrary, a weaker version was put in place under the Biden administration last summer. The initial version just limited government workers in China from having relationships with people who worked at US embassies in the country. But at some point, someone in congress complained that the policy wasn’t strong enough. Just before leaving office in January, U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns broadened the policy to include just about anyone working for the US government inside China having a relationship with any Chinese national.
A more limited version of the policy was enacted last summer prohibiting U.S. personnel from “romantic and sexual relations” with Chinese citizens working as guards and other support staff at the U.S. Embassy and five consulates in China. But Burns, the departing ambassador, broadened it to a blanket ban on such relations with any Chinese citizen in China in January, days before President Donald Trump took office.
The new policy covers U.S. missions in mainland China, including the embassy in Beijing and consulates in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang and Wuhan, as well as the American consulate in the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong. It does not apply to U.S. personnel stationed outside China.
Of course the government isn’t commenting on what prompted this new policy but it does make you wonder: How often does this happen in China? I mean, spies using sex to gain secrets isn’t new, but apparently the US hasn’t had a complete ban like this in place since World War II.
