US imposes further visa restrictions on Chinese officials; Beijing vows reciprocity

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Monday that the restrictions targeted officials Washington believed to be responsible for or complicit in “repressing religious and spiritual practitioners, members of ethnic minority groups, dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists” and others. “Family members of such persons may also be subject to these additional restrictions,” the statement added.Commenting on Pompeo’s announcement, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that his country would take countermeasures against those responsible for hurting the Chinese side. He told a press briefing on Tuesday that Washington used visas as a weapon against Beijing and was interfering in China’s internal affairs.The United States’ relations with China have grown increasingly tense under the administration of US President Donald Trump. Washington has clashed with Beijing over trade, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the coronavirus pandemic. Pompeo has openly called for regime change in China. Washington on Friday added dozens of Chinese companies, including the country’s top chip maker SMIC, to a trade blacklist. Wang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on the same day that the blacklisting was evidence of the US’s oppression of Chinese companies. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also urged Washington to halt the “arbitrary suppression” of Chinese firms. US Department of Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf said on Monday that the department was looking at further restrictions on China, including tighter visa curbs on Chinese Communist Party members and a broader ban on goods allegedly made with forced labor.