China has decided to impose visa restrictions on U.S. citizens in response to similar measures taken by Washington against Chinese officials because of the situation in Tibet, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a briefing on Wednesday.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US is introducing visa restrictions against Chinese officials involved in restricting the entry of foreigners into the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. According to him, Beijing continues “to systematically prevent US diplomats and other officials, journalists and tourists from travelling to the Tibetan Autonomous Region and other Tibetan regions, while Chinese officials and other citizens have much greater access to the United States.
“We are firmly opposed to U.S. measures, and in response to the erroneous actions of the U.S. side, China has decided to impose visa restrictions on U.S. citizens for unacceptable treatment of Tibet”, – the diplomat said.
He also stressed that China will not tolerate any foreign interference in Tibet.
“We call on the U.S. to stop using the Tibetan issue to interfere in China’s internal affairs in order to prevent further damage to bilateral relations,” Zhao Lijian said.