It’s an absurd world we live in, which is why you shouldn’t be surprised that every day seemingly begins and ends with a smattering of absurd headlines.
China on Tuesday stepped up warnings about the purported dangers of citizens traveling to the US, just a day after the education ministry said Chinese students and researchers should “strengthen their risk assessments” when it comes to considering the relative merits of studying abroad in America.
Tuesday finds the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issuing a travel advisory through the end of the year citing, basically, a nationwide crime wave. “Recently, shootings, robberies and thefts have occurred frequently in the United States”, the Ministry said on its official website. Any Chinese citizens brave enough to risk their lives by traveling to America should “fully assess the risk… keep abreast of information on public security, laws and regulations, and improve their awareness of safety and security”, the Ministry adds.
Sounds like the Chinese have been listening to Trump’s “American carnage” inauguration speech.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Ministry issued what appeared to be a separate warning. “Recently, US law enforcement agencies have on multiple occasions used methods such as entry and exit checks, and on-site interviews to harass Chinese citizens in the US”, the ministry said.
In comments carried by CCTV, the Ministry (along with the Chinese Embassy and Consulate in the US) cautioned Chinese citizens to “raise their safety awareness, strengthen preventative measures, and respond properly.”
Any Chinese citizens unfortunate to find themselves caught up in any of the madness and anarchy that apparently reigns across the United States need to “promptly” get help. “In case of emergency, please promptly contact the Chinese consulate in the US for help”, the Foreign Ministry added.
This is reminiscent of a notice China posted regarding travel to Canada earlier this year after the arrest and detention of Meng Wanzhou.
China was furious with Mike Pompeo on Tuesday for comments he made about the country’s human rights record. In a statement, Pompeo demanded a public account of those killed in the Tienanmen Square protests, and as if that wasn’t enough to aggravate Beijing, he also suggested the plight of the Uighurs is evidence that China is a backwards nation not befitting of a place in the international system.
As a reminder, the US reportedly intends to cite the Uighurs in a crackdown on Hikvision and the Chinese surveillance industry more generally. Mike Pence is all set to ratchet up criticism of China’s human rights record as well.
Read more: Trump May Blacklist Chinese Video Surveillance Colossus, Because ‘Human Rights’ Or Whatever…
The Chinese embassy, in a harshly-worded statement, said China is “strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes” Pompeo’s remarks. The Secretary of State is guilty of employing “prejudice and arrogance”, China said, before characterizing Pompeo’s words as an attack on Chinese society dressed up as a human rights appeal.
That was hardly the end of it. Later, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that Pompeo had “maliciously attack[ed] China’s political freedom [by] severely interfering in domestic affairs”. That, Geng said, has “damaged trust”.
Geng went on to say that America’s efforts to undermine China’s stability were “doomed to fail”, and as far as any shrill rhetoric like that employed by Pompeo and Pence is concerned, Geng promised that “the deranged babblings of these people will only end up in the trash can of history”.
So, if you’re wondering how US-China relations are on Tuesday, the answer is, to quote one of Trump’s go-to rejoinders, “Not good. Not good.”
And no privacy at all, you have to hand in all your social media accounts for an US visa. So be it.