An employee of the American trade department was prevented from leaving China By the Beijing authorities, a spokesperson for the State Department said on Monday at CBS News. The restricted trips of the unidentified government employee was confirmed because Beijing revealed new information on a banker from Wells Fargo based in the United States which was also subject to an exit ban.
“We can confirm that an employee of the US patent and brands office, while going to China, has been subject to a ban on exit in China,” the spokesman for the State Department said on Monday. “We follow this case very closely and we are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”
The New York Times reported on Monday that the employee in question is an American citizen who has been prevented from leaving China since mid-April. The newspaper cited a document from the State Department he obtained, adding that he shows that Beijing officials seized the passport, the credit card, the mobile phone and the man’s iPad when he was in the city of Chengdu on April 14.
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The Times said, citing the document, that the man’s documents were returned on April 22, but that he was told that he could not leave the country.
At a press conference on Monday, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the case of the employee of the Ministry of Commerce beyond saying that Beijing “confirms the rule of law and manages the entry and exit cases in accordance with the law”.
But the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiaku, confirmed that the banker of Wells Fargo, Mao Chenyue, was prevented from leaving China and faces criminal charges.
“Ms. Mao Chennyue is involved in a criminal case currently processed by the Chinese authorities in the application of laws and is subject to exit restrictions in accordance with the law. In accordance with Chinese laws, with the case still under investigation, Ms. Mao cannot leave the country at the moment and declared the obligation to cooperate on the investigation on Monday.
Chenyue is director general of Wells Fargo and is based in Atlanta, according to her LinkedIn profile, who says she is bilingual in English and Chinese. A source close to Chenyue confirmed to CBS News that she was an American citizen. She directs the international information activities of Wells Fargo and was born in Shanghai, according to a press release in June on the FCI website without profit, a global network of companies that provides factoring services.
A representative of Wells Fargo told CBS News in a statement on Monday that the company “followed this situation closely and worked on the appropriate channels so that our employee could return to the United States as soon as possible”.
A spokesperson for the US State Department refused to comment on the status of Chenyue on Monday, “due to privacy and other considerations”, but said that the State Department “has no higher priority than the security and security of American citizens”.
On his websiteThe State Department urges the Americans traveling in China to “show increased caution”, warning that China “arbitrarily applies local laws, including the prohibitions of exit to American and citizens of other countries, without fair and transparent process under the law.”
American citizens cannot realize that they have been subjected to a ban on exit when they try to leave China, and there can be no legal appeal available to call on such a ban via a Chinese court, according to the Council on the trip to the State Department.
The Chinese government does not recognize dual nationality either, which means that “American citizens of Chinese origin can be subject to additional examination and harassment,” said directives on the State Department website.
The latest incidents are involved at a sensitive moment in relations between Beijing and Washington. At the end of June, the White House and Beijing officials said the two parties had agreed on the framework of a new agreement To put an end to a trade war between the two largest economies in the world.
In the current state of things, China faces a deadline of August 12-imposed by President Trump-to conclude a new trade agreement with the United States to end an escalation of the Ti-For-Tat Trade War to which countries have been committed since Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January.
Trump imposed prices up to 145% on imports from China, and Beijing responded with his own steep import rights, but the two parties agreed to allow negotiations. In the meantime, the Trump administration imposed prices of 30% on imports from China, pending the deadline of August 12, when much higher rates will be imposed by Washington and Beijing if no agreement is concluded.
The confrontation has increased the risks for American companies that do business in China that have been riding for several years.
In June 2023, after the Chinese authorities attacked offices Of several American companies, the business lawyer based in Beijing James Zimmerman told CBS News It seemed that everything was considered by the Communist Party as a potential threat.
“Unfortunately, in this type of environment, it is very difficult to function-when everything is considered a matter of national security and … it seems that … everything you do could be considered to be spy,” he said.
contributed to this report.