US recommends Americans reconsider traveling to China due to arbitrary law enforcement, exit bans

BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. is recommending Americans reconsider traveling to China because of arbitrary law enforcement, exit bans and the risk of wrongful detentions. No specific cases were cited, but a U.S. citizen was sentenced to life in prison in a spying case in May. The advisory also follows the passage last week of a sweeping Foreign Relations Law that threatens countermeasures against those seen as harming China interests. China also recently passed a broadly written counterespionage law that has sent a chill through the foreign business community, as well as a law to sanction foreign critics. The U.S. has issued similar advisories in the past, but those in recent years mainly focused on the risks of being subject to COVID-19 lockdowns.