《TAIPEI TIMES》 US mulling travel ban on CCP members

/ The Guardian, BEIJING

The US is reportedly considering imposing travel restrictions on Chinese Communist Party （CCP） members amid a deepening row, with US President Donald Trump saying further sanctions were possible and Beijing vowing retaliation.

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A draft US presidential proclamation would revoke visas for members of the CCP, as well as their families, the New York Times reported, citing four people familiar with the proposed travel ban that could apply to as many as 92 million members.

The ban would be similar to the 2017 travel ban on Muslim-majority nations, in giving the US president the ability to prevent foreign nationals deemed “detrimental to the interests” of the US from entering the nation, the report said.

Tensions have escalated over Hong Kong, where Beijing has imposed sweeping and controversial national security legislation, as well as Chinese firm Huawei Technologies Co （華為）, seen by the US as a security threat.

Trump on Wednesday said that he had not ruled out additional sanctions on Chinese officials, following his signing of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, legislation meant to punish Beijing over the national security legislation.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US would be placing visa restrictions on “certain employees” of Chinese technology firms, including Huawei.

Earlier in the day, Beijing summoned US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad to make “solemn representations” over the US act, calling it “gross interference in China’s internal affairs.”

“China will make the necessary response to the wrong actions of the US, including sanctions against US entities and individuals,” a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said.

“Unreasonable meddling and shameless threats by the United States are typical gangster logic and bullying. No external force can stop China’s determination to maintain national sovereignty and security for Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability,” a Hong Kong Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government statement said.

“The current US administration has an abnormal worship of its own power... To what extent is the US willing to hurt itself to harm Hong Kong? No matter what card the US will play next, China will fight it to the end,” the Global Times said in an editorial on Wednesday.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES