The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry urged Chinese travelers to avoid entering the United States through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
China issued a notice on April 16 advising travelers to be cautious when entering the United States through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after 20 Chinese scholars were denied entry.
In an alert posted on X, China Consular Affairs said that the 20 scholars were traveling to Seattle to attend an academic conference when they were inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the airport. The scholars were subsequently refused entry despite having valid visas, according to the notice.
Following the incident, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry and embassy advised Chinese travelers planning to visit the United States to be aware of safety risks and avoid entering through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The office urged travelers to learn about U.S. entry regulations before traveling and make preparations accordingly. Travelers were also told to remain calm and respond rationally if questioned by law enforcement officers, according to the notice.
The circumstances surrounding the scholars’ refusal of entry remain unclear. The Epoch Times reached out to the CBP for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Such incidents are not new, as similar cases have occurred in the past where Chinese researchers and graduate students working in American universities were interrogated by U.S. Customs and detained for hours after returning from China.
In some cases, Chinese researchers ended up being deported after the interrogation. Their research at American universities and research institutions had also been affected.
U.S. authorities have intensified efforts to tackle espionage and intellectual property theft linked to the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing, as more cases involving Chinese nationals working at U.S. research institutions and tech companies illegally sending cutting-edge U.S. technology to China have emerged.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, a U.S. citizen who co-founded Super Micro Computer (also known as Supermicro), and two workers with diverting to China servers containing Nvidia-made chips, which are subject to U.S. export controls.
