(VitalNews.org) – The United States Ambassador said that China has been undermining the ties between the two countries as they agreed to boost engagement.
President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a meeting at the end of last year where they agreed to support and expand exchanges between the two countries. The Wall Street Journal said that China was “interrogating and intimidating citizens who attend U.S.-organized events in China, ramping up restrictions on the embassy’s social-media posts and whipping up anti-American sentiment.”
Ties between China and the United States have been better since the meeting between the presidents took place, and Chinese officials have been welcoming some of America’s top officials to Beijing, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the Secretary of State Anthoney Blinken.
Despite the progress, Ambassador Nicholas Burns has said that Beijing increased the suppression of U.S. diplomatic activities in China. Burns also said that the Chinese government pressured its citizens who attended activities or told them not to attend them. Beijing has allegedly also made it harder for Chinese students to attend United States colleges.
The WSJ said that university fairs across China have revoked invitations for the U.S. diplomatic staff to promote American colleges to students. The report also stated that almost half the participants over the past two years funded by U.S. exchange programs have been pulled out; China has stopped promoting American colleges to their students and their parents by saying there are ideological or national-security concerns.
Said Burns, “What they tell us and what they tell the world is they want people-to-people engagement, and yet this is not just episodic. This is routine. This is nearly every public event.”
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