Washington has imposed a strict ban on U.S. diplomatic personnel, their family members, and contractors with security clearances, prohibiting them from engaging in any form of “romantic and sexual relations” with Chinese citizens, according to a report by the Associated Press on Thursday.
The policy, enacted in January by departing U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns, expands on an earlier directive introduced in the summer. It restricts staff at the U.S. embassy in Beijing and the five consulates across China from engaging in intimate relationships with Chinese guards and other support personnel. The policy was reportedly communicated through internal channels, such as email and verbal messages, but has not been publicly announced.
The new directive, which has drawn comparisons to Cold War-era practices, effectively implements a blanket “non-fraternization” approach. While the U.S. government has not specified how “romantic and sexual relations” are defined under the policy, it has clarified that only U.S. personnel with pre-existing relationships with Chinese nationals can apply for individually reviewed exemptions. Should an exemption be denied, those involved must end their relationship. Violators of the policy will be ordered to leave China and return home immediately.
This development follows longstanding warnings from Western intelligence agencies, including those from the U.S. and the U.K., cautioning against relationships with Chinese nationals. These agencies have repeatedly accused China of running a covert “honey trap” operation, wherein foreign nationals, particularly those from the West, are allegedly targeted by attractive individuals seeking to form long-term relationships, only to later pressure them into cooperating with the Chinese government.
Despite these concerns, no concrete evidence of such activities has been publicly presented, and Chinese officials have consistently denied the accusations. They have dismissed the allegations as baseless, accusing Western intelligence agencies of projecting their own “disgraceful acts” onto China.
