Washington

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The US State Department has issued an advisory to its citizens, urging them to "reconsider travel" to China, if they do not want to get stuck in the Communist nation “due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws". 

"Reconsider travel to Mainland China due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans, and the risk of wrongful detentions," read the advisory. 

Expanding upon the discretionary advisory, the department said it had determined the risk of wrongful detention of US nationals by the PRC government. 

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“US citizens traveling or residing in the PRC may be detained without access to US consular services or information about their alleged crime...[and] subjected to interrogations and detention without fair and transparent treatment under the law,” the State Department said.

“Security personnel could detain US citizens or subject them to prosecution for conducting research or accessing publicly available material inside the PRC.”

Apart from the mainland, American citizens were also advised to reconsider travel to Hong Kong and Macau. 

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"Exercise increased caution when travelling to the Hong Kong SAR due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws. Reconsider travel to the Macau SAR due to a limited ability to provide emergency consular services. Exercise increased caution when travelling to the Macau SAR due to the arbitrary enforcement of local laws."

Also read | The semiconductor wars: China restricts exports of raw materials critical to chip production

Relations remain frosty between the US, China

The release of the advisory comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Beijing and met President Xi Jinping last month. After the visit, Washington seemingly toed Beijing's line and said it didn't support Taiwan's independence. 

Moreover, the release of the advisory comes after it was announced on Sunday that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was travelling to the mainland. 

The relations between the two countries have remained frosty for a long period. On Monday, the chip war between the two countries took a new turn after China imposed export controls on two rare elements, essential for the manufacturing of semiconductors. 

Also read | Tit-for-tat: After China restricts metals export, US mulls ban on access to cloud computing

Starting August 1, exports of gallium, and germanium, among several other industrial compounds will be subject to restrictions, Beijing announced, in order to “safeguard national security and interests”. 

Washington returned the favour with news reports claiming that the Biden administration was planning to restrict Chinese access to US cloud-computing services.

WATCH | Micron fails China's security check

 Under the proposed new rules, US cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft will have to seek government permission before they can provide cloud-computing services that use advanced artificial intelligence chips to Chinese customers. 

(With inputs from agencies)

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