White House mulls travel ban for Chinese Communist Party members - report

The White House is mulling a ban on Chinese Communist Party members travelling to the US, it was reported on Thursday, the latest salvo in the escalating hostilities between the two countries.

Should it be introduced, the ban would apply to all party members and their families, and would also authorise the US government to revoke visas for members who were already in America, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper said a presidential proclamation had been drawn up, but it remained in draft form and Donald Trump could yet reject it. The paper cited four unnamed people with knowledge of the discussions.

Tensions between the two countries have increased in recent months, and should the travel ban be approved, it would likely prompt retaliation against Americans looking to either travel to, or remain in, China.

A bitter trade dispute, which has seen both sides impose billions of pounds of tariffs on imports, has been ongoing since Trump took office. More recently, however, the countries have clashed over the Covid-19 outbreak, the introduction of new laws in Hong Kong, and electronics giant Huawei, which the White House sees as a security threat. China also said it would sanction US arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin after the White House green lit a deal to sell Taiwan missile parts.

However, some commentators see Trump’s tough stance on China as part of a wider re-election strategy rather than entrenched foreign policy.

With around 92m Chinese Communist Party members - only few of which will be known to the US authorities - imposing any travel ban would also prove difficult, The New York Times noted.