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SCMP Reporter

New requirement for non-immigrant applications violates human rights, says Beijing

Beijing  reacted angrily yesterday to a new United States policy of fingerprinting people applying for non-immigrant visas, saying it was discriminatory and a violation of human rights.

The fingerprinting, which started at the US embassy in Beijing on Monday, had 'aroused great dissatisfaction among Chinese people', the Foreign Ministry said.

It said the move was 'discrimination against Chinese citizens and infringement upon [their] human dignity and privacy rights'.

The statement came a day after the mainland  suspended its human rights dialogue with the US after Washington announced plans to propose a resolution condemning Beijing  for 'backsliding on key human rights issues' at the ongoing meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.

State media has carried several reports in recent weeks about the new US embassy policy to collect fingerprints as 'biometric identifiers' for non-immigrant visa applicants.

Before the ministry issued the statement, the tone had  been non-critical. However, reports carried in the mainland media yesterday were extremely critical.

'With the US hitting their human rights record, China is going to use this to hit back,' a Beijing-based diplomat said. 'It seems they've really decided to make it an issue now.'

The ministry called the policy discriminatory as 28 countries are exempt from the fingerprinting.

Outside the Beijing embassy yesterday, dozens of visa applicants said they agreed with the ministry's statement.

'It's disgraceful,' said Li Wei,  a 27-year-old student from Shandong, in a typical reaction. 'America does not treat us as equals; they look down on us.'

A US embassy spokeswoman in Beijing denied the new policy was discriminatory, saying the 28 exempt countries were all in the visa-waiver pilot programme, so their citizens did not require a visa to travel to the US.

'If they don't require a visa, they will clearly not need to have their fingerprints scanned,' she said.

The spokeswoman added that even those travelling from a visa-waiver country would have to hold a new-style passport that had imbedded biometric information.

If they had an old-style passport that contained no biometric information, fingerprints would be taken, she said.

In Washington yesterday, US officials said they were not  concerned by Beijing's  decision to suspend the human rights dialogue as the talks had been largely a waste of time.

They accuse the mainland of backsliding on many human rights issues, committing abuses such as extra-judicial killings, torture and the repression of religious and political groups.



Anger over fingerprint policy for  US visas