An employee with the U.S. Department of Commerce who traveled to China to see family is not being allowed to leave due to failing to “disclose” who his employer was, according to a report.
“Four people familiar with the matter” told the Washington Post that the unnamed man, who is a Chinese American, has “been caught up in China’s controversial practice of blocking Chinese and foreign nationals” from leaving the country.
The unnamed man is described as working in the Patent and Trademark Office, which is a “federal agency under the Department of Commerce.”
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website, the USPTO grants patents and registers trademarks.
Under China’s so-called “exit bans,” people can reportedly move around “within the country and may meet with consular officials and even journalists,” while they are closely monitored, according to the outlet.
Per the outlet, while China not allowing the man to leave “comes at a fraught time in relations between Washington and Beijing,” the “use of exit bans” on American citizens by China “has long been an irritant in the two countries’ relationship”:
The development comes at a fraught time in relations between Washington and Beijing. Despite an escalating trade war and persistent geopolitical tensions between the two countries, President Donald Trump has spoken warmly of Chinese President Xi Jinping and said that even when his administration fights with China, it is done “in a very friendly fashion.”
China’s use of exit bans on Americans has long been an irritant in the two countries’ relationship, and senior U.S. diplomats have raised this case with their Chinese counterparts.
Breitbart News previously reported that Wells Fargo had suspended travel to China for its employees after China hit Chenyue Mao with an exit ban. Mao, an American citizen born in Shanghai, is the managing director for Wells Fargo.
While the outlet noted that the State Department “declined to address the case,” the State Department explained that they “track these cases closely, and have raised” concerns with Chinese officials.
“We track these cases closely, and have raised our concerns with Chinese authorities about the well being of our citizens and the impact these arbitrary exit bans have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted U.S. citizens to return home,” the State Department said in a statement.
Breitbart News reached out to the State Department for a statement but did not receive a response back by the time of publication.
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