US slaps visa restrictions on Chinese officials for engaging in 'coercive activities'

US State Department on Friday imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials and others who have used or threatened to use violence, the release of private information or other coercive tactics to intimidate critics.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not name those sanctioned in a written statement in which he accused the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) United Front Work Department of coercing and bullying "those who would oppose Beijing's policies."

"The United Front frequently intimidates members of academia, businesses, civil society groups, and Chinese diaspora communities, including members of ethnic and religious minority communities who speak out against horrific human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang, Tibet, and elsewhere in China," he said.

He further said China uses coercive tactics to target individuals viewed as working against CCP interests.

"These tactics include the release of personal details ("doxing") of their targets and even their family members online as a means of political intimidation," State Secretary said.

Pompeo said the visa restrictions would apply to those "who have engaged in the use or threat of physical violence, theft and release of private information, espionage, sabotage, or malicious interference in domestic political affairs, academic freedom, personal privacy, or business activity."

Pompeo said that these "malign activities" are intended to co-opt and coerce sub-national leaders, overseas Chinese communities, academia, and other civil society groups both in the United States and other countries in furtherance of the CCP's authoritarian narratives and policy preferences.

He accused China of seeking to "co-opt and coerce" people in the United States and elsewhere to support its "authoritarian narratives and policy preferences" and called on Beijing "to end its use of coercion and intimidation tactics to suppress freedom of expression."

On Thursday, the outgoing Trump administration had announced measures to reduce the US visitor visa validity period for CCP officials and their family members from ten years to one month.

The State Department under Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has pursued staunch policy measures against the Chinese government citing rising global threats posed by the policies adopted by the CCP.

(With agency inputs)