US lawmakers raise intelligence fears over Covid ‘detention’ of American diplomats in China

Two US Republicans seek documents linked to the confinement of 16 diplomats under the guise of Covid-19 restrictions

China is suspected of using tactics to pressure officials to surrender intelligence

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Two Republican lawmakers are asking for documents they believe could reveal details of a Chinese operation to pressure US diplomats to surrender intelligence. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:16pm, 30 Sep 2022

Two US Republican lawmakers have asked the State Department to save documents linked to what they said was the detention of more than a dozen US diplomats in Chinese Covid-19 quarantine over concern that China may have pressured them to surrender intelligence.

China’s confinement of diplomats “raises grave national security concerns”, Representatives James Comer and Michael McCaul said in a letter on Thursday to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken obtained by Bloomberg.

“We must ensure the protection of all Americans abroad – especially those who have access to classified information – and put an end to the undignified detainment of US diplomats,” they said.

Citing correspondence provided by whistle-blowers as well as reporting in The Washington Post, the two lawmakers said China “engaged in a sustained campaign to deprive US diplomats of their liberties under the guise of Covid-19 containment”.

They said the US embassy had confirmed that 16 diplomats and their family members were involuntarily held.

“Committee Republicans are concerned that US diplomats could be, or have been, pressured to surrender intelligence while detained,” they said.