WASHINGTON — The State Department said Friday that it would deny visas to Chinese citizens linked to overseas influence operations involving violence and other means of intimidation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the restrictions would apply to Chinese Communist Party officials or anyone else taking part in such propaganda or influence campaigns affiliated with the United Front Work Department.
The United Front has been involved in efforts to put pressure on people outside China’s borders who raise concerns about human rights abuses in the Uighur region, Tibet and elsewhere. Its “coercive tactics” have included publicly releasing personal details about critics and their family members online as a means of intimidation, Pompeo said in announcing the restrictions.
The measure is intended to show that “those responsible for actions that contravene the rules-based international order are not welcome in the United States,” he said.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people would potentially be covered by the new restrictions.
