WASHINGTON: The State Department said Friday that the U.S. will impose visa restrictions on Chinese citizens engaged in overseas influence operations.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the restrictions would apply to Chinese Communist Party officials or anyone else taking part in propaganda or influence campaigns linked to the United Front Work Department.
The United Front has been involved in efforts to put pressure on people who criticize China for 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 new 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.
The restrictions are the latest punitive measure taken against Chinas leadership and economy in response to sharpening…