China Tightens COVID-19 Rules, US Considers Evacuating Staff And Families From Embassy In Beijing

JAKARTA - The United States State Department is considering whether to allow diplomats and their families from China, as Washington's inability to deter Beijing's authorities makes them subject to disruptive pandemic control measures, sources said.

Two sources familiar with the matter said the US Embassy on Monday sent a request to Washington for a formal signing, as China ramps up its COVID-19 protocol ahead of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics which is less than two weeks away.

The source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, added that some embassy staff were upset that the US Government was unwilling or unable to release American officials from strict quarantine measures.

The rules include the possibility of forced entry to the COVID fever clinic and separation from children.

The State Department told Reuters in a statement on Tuesday that the operating status of its embassies and consulates in China had not changed.

"Any change in the status of operations of this nature will be based solely on the health, safety and security of our colleagues and their family members," a department spokesman said, citing Reuters January 26.

Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry did not immediately return a request for comment regarding this news.

A source said the results of an internal survey conducted by the US Embassy in China showed that 25 percent of staff and family members would choose to leave China as soon as possible.

Home quarantine for diplomats should be a basic requirement, and entry into China's fever clinics and hospitals should be voluntary, the person said, adding the US government should have imposed retaliatory measures for the requirement but failed to do so.

A second person said the embassy leadership had failed to get appropriate assurances from China about the treatment of US diplomats during the pandemic.

In the early months of the pandemic, the US government evacuated some 1,300 US diplomats and family members from China, and the two governments remained at a stalemate for months, due to testing and quarantine procedures for officials.

China requires foreign diplomats to adhere to pandemic control rules such as quarantine and testing upon arrival, although some foreign envoys do not have to enter government-designated quarantine hotels.

China is rapidly stepping up measures to block the further spread of COVID ahead of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 4, despite the virus outbreak continuing across the city.

Meanwhile, China's nationalist tabloid Global Times called the US State Department's consideration of the policy a "dirty trick" meant to annoy Olympic host China.

To note, the United States has led several allied and partner nations in a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics, over what the Chinese government says is the Chinese government's ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim groups in the western region of Xinjiang.