In an updated travel advisory, the US government has asked Americans planning a trip to China to reconsider their decision due to the risk of wrongful detention.
The department in its previous advisory in March had listed China as a “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” destination due to the risk of “arbitrary enforcement of local laws.”
The revised advisory comes at a time when tensions between the United States and China are high. According to a spokesperson for the State Department, the Chinese government "continues to engage in this practice" of wrongful imprisonment, therefore "the Travel Advisory has been updated to advise US citizens to reconsider travel to Mainland China due to the risk of wrongful detention."
Last month US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Beijing in a move to prevent relations from deteriorating further. He also raised the cases of three Americans - Kai Li, Mark Swidan and David Lin - who are believed to be wrongfully detained in China.