Latest news with #travelrestriction
CBS News
22-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
China imposes exit bans on U.S. Department of Commerce employee and a Wells Fargo banker
A U.S. Department of Commerce employee has been restricted from leaving China by authorities in Beijing, a State Department spokesperson told CBS News on Monday. The unidentified government employee's restricted travel was confirmed as Beijing revealed new information about a U.S.-based Wells Fargo banker who has also been subjected to an exit ban. "We can confirm that a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office employee, while traveling to China in a personal capacity, was made subject to an exit ban in China," the State Department spokesperson said Monday. "We are tracking this case very closely and are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible." The New York Times reported Monday that the employee in question is a U.S. citizen who has been prevented from leaving China since mid-April. The newspaper cited a State Department document it has obtained, adding that it shows Beijing officials seized the man's passport, credit card, cellphone and iPad while he was in the city of Chengdu on April 14. The Times said, citing the document, that the man's documents were returned on April 22, but that he was told he could not leave the country. At a news conference on Monday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the case of the Department of Commerce employee beyond saying that Beijing "upholds the rule of law and handles entry and exit affairs in accordance with the law." But Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiaku did confirm that Wells Fargo banker Mao Chenyue has been restricted from leaving China and is facing criminal charges. "Ms. Mao Chenyue is involved in a criminal case currently being handled by Chinese law-enforcement authorities and is subjected to exit restrictions in accordance with the law. Pursuant to Chinese laws, with the case still under investigation, Ms. Mao cannot leave the country for the time being and has an obligation to cooperate with the investigation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiaku said Monday. Chenyue is a Managing Director at Wells Fargo and is based in Atlanta, according to her Linkedin profile. Her Linkedin account also says she is bilingual in English and Chinese. Mao leads Wells Fargo's international factoring business and was born in Shanghai, according to a June press release on the website of the non profit FCI, a global network of companies that provides factoring services. It was not clear on Tuesday whether Mao holds dual Chinese and U.S. nationality. A Wells Fargo representative told CBS News in a statement on Monday that the company was "closely tracking this situation and working through the appropriate channels so our employee can return to the United States as soon as possible." A U.S. State Department spokesperson declined to comment Monday on Chenyue's status, "due to privacy and other considerations," but said the State Department "has no higher priority than the safety and security of American citizens." On its website, the State Department urges Americans travelling in China to "exercise increased caution," warning that China "arbitrarily enforces local laws, including exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law." U.S. citizens may only realize they have been subjected to an exit ban when they attempt to leave China, and there may be no available legal recourse to appeal such a ban via a Chinese court, according to the State Department's travel advisory. The Chinese government also does not recognize dual nationality, meaning "U.S. citizens of Chinese descent may be subject to additional scrutiny and harassment," the guidance on the State Department's website says. The latest incidents come at a sensitive time in relations between Beijing and Washington. In late June, the White House and officials in Beijing said the two sides had agreed on the framework of a new deal to end a trade war between the world's two largest economies. As it stands, China faces an August 12 deadline — imposed by President Trump — to strike a new trade deal with the U.S. to end an escalating tit-for-tat trade tariff war that the countries have engaged in since Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January. Mr. Trump imposed tariffs of up to 145% on imports from China, and Beijing responded with its own steep import duties, but the two sides agreed to a truce to allow for negotiations. In the meantime, the Trump administration has imposed 30% tariffs on imports from China, pending the August 12 deadline, when much higher rates will be imposed by both Washington and Beijing if no agreement is reached. The standoff has increased the risks for American companies doing business in China that had already been mounting for several years. In June 2023, after Chinese authorities raided the offices of several U.S.-based firms, Beijing-based business lawyer James Zimmerman told CBS News it seemed everything was being taken by the Communist Party as a potential threat. "Unfortunately, in that kind of environment it's very difficult to operate — when everything is viewed as a national security matter and… it looks as if…. anything you do could be considered to be spying," he Victoria Gazis contributed to this report.
Wall Street Journal
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
U.S. Says Government Employee Blocked from Leaving China
China has blocked a U.S. government employee from leaving the country after the person traveled there in a personal capacity, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said. The employee of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was 'made subject to an exit ban in China,' a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday. 'We are tracking this case very closely and are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.'
Malay Mail
18-07-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Wells Fargo pauses China travel after China blocks its banker from leaving
Banking giant suspends China travel after employee exit ban US embassy urges Beijing to lift exit bans on citizens Some EU firms say employees put off by China safety risks BEIJING/SHANGHAI/SYDNEY, July 18 — Fears that employees of foreign firms risk entanglement with Chinese authorities have resurfaced after news that an employee of US bank Wells Fargo has been banned from leaving the country. Business groups, diplomats and overseas executives say the incident is part of a long-term trend that had appeared to ease off as Beijing pushed to promote its appeal to foreign commerce to bolster its slowing economy. 'Such stories can raise concerns of foreign businesses regarding travel to China,' said Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. 'At a time when China is proactively trying to attract foreign investment it sends something of a mixed signal.' Wells Fargo has suspended all travel to China after the incident, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Shanghai-born Chenyue Mao, who spearheads the bank's international factoring business, was subjected to the ban after she entered China in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. She is a US citizen, a source told Reuters. An emailed request for comment sent to Mao received an automated response saying she was 'travelling international on business'. China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press briefing on Friday that he was not aware of the Wells Fargo matter, adding that China was committed to providing a welcoming environment for foreign companies to do business. The US embassy in Beijing said it could not comment on the specifics of the case due to privacy and other reasons. 'We have raised our concern with Chinese authorities about the impact arbitrary exit bans on US citizens have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted US citizens to return home,' a spokesperson for the embassy added. The United States does not provide an official figure for how many citizens are detained abroad, but The Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for the release of political prisoners in China, estimates there are more than 200 Americans in China alone who are wrongfully detained or facing coercive measures, such as exit bans. The US State Department updated its travel advisory for mainland China in November 2024 saying visitors should 'exercise increased caution' due to 'arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans.' Routinely used In a survey conducted by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China of its members last year, 9 per cent of respondents reported challenges attracting foreign nationals to work in China due to concerns related to personal safety and/or civil and criminal liability such as company raids, arbitrary arrests or exit bans. Of the 128 respondents, 4 per cent said business travel from China to their company's headquarters had been negatively impacted due to employees being unable to leave China due to exit bans. There is no official data in China on the number of individuals subject to exit bans. But non-profit organisation Safeguard Defenders estimates bans have shot up over the past decade and that 'tens of thousands' of people – the vast majority Chinese nationals – face such bans at any one time, citing court data on civil and criminal cases. A 2022 academic study found 128 cases of foreigners faced exit bans between 1995 and 2019, including 29 Americans and 44 Canadians. Around a third of the bans were business related. James Zimmerman, a lawyer based in Beijing and former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said Chinese authorities routinely use exit bans to prevent witnesses or suspects viewed as flight risks from exiting mainland China. 'Most of the time, there is a legitimate legal basis for the exit ban, while there are indeed instances of misuse of the process by the government authorities, including for political reasons,' Zimmerman said While there are procedures in place to have the ban lifted, a lack of transparency and absence of a workable bail system make it a time-consuming and challenging process, he added. Other incidents of bans in recent years have embroiled executives from Japanese investment bank Nomura Holdings, US risk advisory firm Kroll and Swiss wealth manager UBS. Yet some professional advisors say travel to China has become safer than several years ago, said Benjamin Qiu, Co-Chair, Asian Affairs Committee at the New York City Bar Association. Unless your company has been specifically targeted by the state or a state-owned entity, risks are low, said Qui, adding that ethnic Chinese travellers do face heightened risk. Other executives are hoping the Wells Fargo incident does not presage a wider crackdown. 'We do so much business in China and travel there so much, we can't afford not to. I would hope this is just a one-off,' said a capital markets banker at a Western bank in Hong Kong, declining to be named as the person was not authorised to talk to the media. — Reuters
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Ghana reply after US slam dem with three months visa restriction too
Di govment of Ghana don confam say di US bin take action to revise dia policy to issue prospective travellers three months visa instead of five years. Tori bin dey dis week say di US govment don apply dis three-month restriction to most immigrant visas wey include B-class (business/tourism) and F-1 (student) visas for some African kontris including Nigeria and Cameroon. Na so di foreign ministry of Ghana now don confam say di policy affect Ghana also for wetin di US describe as visa reciprocity. According to di US state department bureau of consular affairs, holders for A-class visas wia be diplomats and govment officials go continue to receive multiple-entry visas wit validity from 24 to 60 months. Dis updated guidelines wey dem publish under di US visa reciprocity and civil documents for Ghana, also affect student visa applicants wey dey enrolled for full time academic programmes for di US. Dem also go get only one entry visa wey go expire afta three months. Wetin di foreign ministry tok about dis visa restriction Inside one statement by di foreign ministry on Friday, govment tok say "dis decision by di US dey different from di arrangement wey Ghana bin get wit di US." According to di foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana bin still dey issue five years multiple entry visas for US passport holders. In fact, di ministry tok say dia embassy for Washington DC and New York since January don issue ova 40,000 visas. Out of dis number, 28,626 of dem na multiple entry visas to Ghana. "Consistent wit di bilateral relations, US passport holders dey entitled to maximum visa validity of five years." "But some of di applicants bin dey apply for single entry visas based on di validity of dia passports," di statement tok. Tori bin dey go round during di week say di US don take dis decision sake of Ghana bin revise dia visa policy wit di US wey dem reduce am from five years to three months. But di foreign affairs ministry deny dis mata. According to Oga Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana don issue 70.42% of multiple long-term visa to di US passport holders according to bilateral relations between di two kontris. "Aside di five-year multiple visas, Ghana also bin dey issue entry visa for six months, one year, two years, three and four years based on various considerations." Di ministry too say dem bin dey work with di US govment to deal wit di mata wey don cause dis visa restriction in di first place. Currently, di rate of visa overstay for Ghanaians for di US na 21% wey be above di acceptable level of 15%, according to di foreign affairs ministry. Di ministry say, "di US don tell us say di main reason for dis visa restriction, na sake of pipo wey dey overstay dia visa duration - wey include students." "Govment dey study di current development to consider dia options, but we dey committed to working wit di US govment to deal wit dis mata." "We dey hope to fix dis mata especially as di US confam say di ogbonge reason for dis restriction na visa overstays - so we dey ensure say applicants align wit di visa application procedures and requirements for di US," di foreign affairs ministry add. Nigeria, Ethiopia and Cameroon bin confam say di US don impose same restriction for dia citizens as well. Nigeria don deny say im dey issue single-entry e-visas for three months to US citizens. Presidential tok-tok pesin Bayo Onanuga tok on Thursday say Nigeria still dey offer multiple entry visas to American citizens. Likewise, di US citizens fit get up to one year for Cameroon and 90 days for Ethiopia. 'Dis arrangement go affect plenty tins' One former lawmaker for Ghana bin dey share im experience wit di new visa restriction policy. Oga Ras Mubarak wey be former member of parliament for Kumbungu explain wetin im go through when im five-year visa bin expire. "My visa expire for January dis year wey I apply to renew ; na so dem issue three-month single entry visa instead of di five years," oga Ras Mubarak write for im social media handle. "Dis kind arrangement go affect many tins, tourism, business and education sake of pipo no fit to dey apply every three months for dia trips - dis na increasing cost and also go cause plenty administrative kasala." Im add say, "no serious business pesin go put diasef through dis kind wahala, e no dey economically wise to apply for visa to di same kontri every three months." "Pipo go now decide to explore oda markets for business, tourism and education wit di way di US now dey go." Di former lawmaker say im now dey lead one campaign to begin road-trip from Accra to 39 African kontris to meet dia govments and promote visa-free policy for Africans wey dey travel for Africa to boost economy and create opportunity for African pipo.
