US announces visa restrictions for Chinese officials

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced visa restrictions for a certain group of Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. He said, Beijing has continued systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas by US diplomats and other officials, journalists, and tourists, while Chinese officials and other citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States.

 

Mr Pompeo announced visa restrictions on Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party officials involved in the formulation or



execution of policies related to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas. He said access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given the Chinese human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing's failure to prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia's major rivers. 

Mr Pompeo said the US will continue to work to advance the sustainable economic development, environmental conservation, and humanitarian conditions of Tibetan communities in China and abroad.