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The United States hopes Beijing will ease restrictions on meetings between US diplomats and local officials after Washington imposed reciprocal measures against China, the US ambassador said Monday.
Washington angered Beijing last week after it announced that Chinese diplomats will now have to notify the State Department before meeting with American officials.
In China, US diplomats have to get permission from several levels of the Chinese government to meet local officials or academics, only to see such requests often denied.
"Even if we get permission sometimes it can get cancelled at the last minute. That's been a frustration over a long period of time," US ambassador Terry Branstad said at a press briefing with a group of foreign journalists.
"We hope that the outcome (of the reciprocal measures) will be to get better access for US diplomats here in China," he said.
The US counter-measure comes as diplomatic tensions between China and the United States have risen over a host of issues, including a protracted trade war.
The US measure is a "very modest" step, Branstad said, noting that Washington is only asking Chinese diplomats to notify the US government about their meetings while their US counterparts in China must secure official permission.
Branstad was himself denied access to Tibet twice before finally getting permission to go in May.
But when he went to a coffee shop in Qinghai province on his way to Tibet, officials told people inside not to talk to the diplomats, Branstad said, recalling an example of the impediments US diplomats can face.
Branstad also cited the case of US consulate officials trying to meet Chinese students in the southern city of Guangzhou.
The foreign ministry initially said no student applied for the meeting and then said that none were available. The ministry later said students were "too shy" to meet with US officials, Branstad said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying countered that the ministry "has always had an enthusiastic attitude" towards the US side seeking cooperation with Chinese localities and has provided assistance.
"We hope that, in this matter, the US side will face the facts, and facilitate the normal interaction of personnel from the two sides, rather than set up obstacles, much less make false accusations," Hua said at a regular press briefing Monday.
Asked whether the US was also mulling restrictions on Chinese journalists in response to the difficulties foreign media face in China, Branstad said: "I think there has been some discussion about Chinese that are working for (Communist) Party-controlled entities and whether they should be treated as foreign agents."
Visa delays, detentions and suspected phone-bugging are among the challenges faced by foreign journalists in China.
US law requires people who do publicity for foreign governments or parties to register as foreign agents with the Justice Department and make periodic public disclosures about their activities.
Japan says citizen held in China after alleged spying reports
Beijing (AFP) Oct 21, 2019 -
Chinese authorities have detained a Japanese man in Beijing, Tokyo confirmed Monday, following media reports that a university professor was being held on suspicion of spying.
"The Japanese embassy in China confirmed that a Japanese man in his 40s was detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing in September for (allegedly) violating Chinese laws," Japan's top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
He did not specify the charges against the man, but Japanese media have identified him as a professor from Hokkaido University who was held on suspicion of spying.
The man, who has not been named, worked previously for the National Institute for Defense Studies in the defence ministry and the Japanese foreign ministry, according to local media reports.
"Within the framework of protecting Japanese expatriates, we are holding meetings between (the man and) consuls and communicating with his family members, but we decline to comment on further details given the nature of this case," Suga said.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know the details of the case, but that China "has always handled foreign nationals suspected of breaking China's law, in accordance with the law."
China will "provide the necessary assistance in order for the Japanese side to perform the normal consular duties, in accordance with the relevant provisions," Hua said at a regular press briefing.
Hua said the detention was a "one-off case".
"We hope that the Japanese side can remind its citizens to respect China's laws and regulations, and avoid engaging in illegal activities in China," she said.
But, she added, China is "willing to work together with Japan to promote the continued progress of China-Japan relations along the correct path" and that "these are two completely separate issues".
She noted that Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan is scheduled to attend the enthronement of Japan's Emperor Naruhito on Tuesday.
China has faced accusations -- including from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau -- of using detentions of foreigners as a political tool, and observers have called it "hostage diplomacy".
Canada-China ties have soured since its arrest of Chinese Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US warrant last December -- nine days later, Beijing detained two Canadians and months later accused them of espionage-related activities.
The two Canadians are among a string of foreign nationals arrested in China and charged with espionage or attempting to steal state secrets.
Australian academic Yang Jun, who also goes by his pen name Yang Hengjun, was detained in January shortly after making a rare return to China from the US. Beijing said in September that he had been formally arrested on suspicion of spying.
China also detained six Japanese citizens in 2017 for alleged "illegal activities".
Since 2015, at least 13 Japanese citizens -- all civilians -- have been detained in China on various charges including espionage, Japan's Kyodo News and the Asahi Shimbun reported.
Tokyo's ties with Beijing have been at times strained by rows over history and territorial disputes but have been improving recently, with President Xi Jinping expected to visit Japan early next year.
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