The U.S. government has issued a sweeping diktat prohibiting American diplomats, their families and security-cleared contractors in China from engaging in romance or sex with Chinese citizens.
The Associated Press reported on the move, citing four people with direct knowledge of the decoupling policy which was put into effect by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns in January shortly before he left China.
The “no sex” policy applies to staff at the U.S. embassy in Beijing and consulates in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang and Wuhan, as well as the consulate in Hong Kong.
U.S. personnel stationed outside China or those already in pre-existing relationships with Chinese citizens might be exempt, the report said, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter.
That might spare the blushes of those who in the past have had aspersions cast on their friendships like Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
Rep. Eric Swalwell is now floating conspiracy theories about how a story on the existence of a classified report detailing the explicit nature of his relationship with Chinese spy Fang Fang came out—but he is not denying the intelligence report exists. https://t.co/ajDh57AvVj
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 28, 2021
A less restrictive version of the blanket “non-fraternisation” policy was introduced last summer, prohibiting U.S. personnel from having “romantic and sexual relations” with Chinese citizens working as guards and other support staff at the U.S. embassy and five consulates in China.
The policy was communicated verbally and electronically to American personnel in China in January, but has not been publicly announced.
The AP report notes intelligence services across the world have previously used attractive men and women to solicit sensitive information in “honeypot” traps, most famously during the Cold War.
The State Department and other agencies with offices in China have long had stringent reporting requirements on personal relationships for American personnel stationed there, as well as rivals considered high intelligence threats such as Russia or Cuba.
