China Blames U.S. Customs of Harassing Crew Of Chinese Vessel

China has made some serious demarches to the US regarding the harassment and interrogation of the crew of a Chinese vessel. It has also urged the US to pull back from disrupting people-to-people exchanges and the trade between the two nations.

In July, the crew members of Zhenhua 28, a Hong Kong-registered vessel belonging to a Shanghai-based firm, were reportedly interrogated by the US law enforcers in Florida’s Jacksonville.

The US Customs and Border Protection officials boarded the vessel for an examination and also collected biometric information, including some fingerprints, of crew members, who were asked if they were associated with the Communist Party of China, from the army or part of the government.

These US officials further confiscated electronic devices that belonged to some of those members.

As a result, the vessel’s departure from the US got delayed, which disrupted the vessel operations as well as the work and life of crew members, per the Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Tuesday.

In recent years, the US has put barriers to entering China’s citizens under numerous pretexts, including unreasonable interference in entering China’s students with valid visas. Particularly, it has interrogated and also harassed Chinese nationals on the grounds of political beliefs and/or CPC membership, Wang mentioned.

He added that this shows a stark manifestation of Cold War mentality and ideological bias.

The spokesman urged the US to stop unjust interrogation as well as the harassment of China’s nationals travelling to the US and also stop infringing on legal rights.

The US should stop undermining bilateral people-to-people exchanges and trade cooperation following the pretext of national security and strive to prevent such incidents from repeating, Wang said.

He declared that China is expected to adopt necessary stringent measures for safeguarding its citizens’ legal rights.

References: Global Times, China Daily

China Blames U.S. Customs of Harassing Crew Of Chinese Vessel appeared first on Marine Insight – The Maritime Industry Guide

Source: Maritime Shipping News