A new Level 2 travel advisory has been issued for China.

[sayhello]

A new travel advisory has been issued for China.

Exercise increased caution in China due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws as well as special restrictions on dual U.S.-Chinese nationals.

Chinese authorities have asserted broad authority to prohibit U.S. citizens from leaving China by using ‘exit bans,’ sometimes keeping U.S. citizens in China for years. China uses exit bans coercively:

• to compel U.S. citizens to participate in Chinese government investigations,
• to lure individuals back to China from abroad, and
• to aid Chinese authorities in resolving civil disputes in favor of Chinese parties.

In most cases, U.S. citizens only become aware of the exit ban when they attempt to depart China, and there is no method to find out how long the ban may continue. U.S. citizens under exit bans have been harassed and threatened.

U.S. citizens may be detained without access to U.S. consular services or information about their alleged crime. U.S. citizens may be subjected to prolonged interrogations and extended detention for reasons related to “state security.” Security personnel may detain and/or deport U.S. citizens for sending private electronic messages critical of the Chinese government.

Extra security measures, such as security checks and increased levels of police presence, are common in the Xinjiang Uighur and Tibet Autonomous Regions. Authorities may impose curfews and travel restrictions on short notice.

China does not recognize dual nationality. U.S.-Chinese citizens and U.S. citizens of Chinese heritage may be subject to additional scrutiny and harassment, and China may prevent the U.S. Embassy from providing consular services.

Read the Safety and Security section on the country information page.

If you decide to travel to China:

• Enter China on your U.S. passport with a valid Chinese visa and keep it with you.
• If you are arrested or detained, ask police or prison officials to notify the U.S. Embassy or the nearest consulate immediately.
• If you plan to enter North Korea, read the North Korea Travel Advisory.
• Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the U.S. Embassy on Twitter, WeChat, and Weibo.
• Review the Crime and Safety Reports for China.
• U.S. citizens who travel abroad should always have a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Traveler’s Checklist.

They are *not* saying to not go to China (that would be a level 3 advisory, and this is level 2) but they are advising using caution while you are there, because there's been a large increase of "exit bans" where US citizens are being detained an not allowed to leave China. And honestly, as welcoming as the Chinese people are, being cautious in China is never a bad idea. I would never go without someone like ABD as a buffer. (Not that they could do much of anything if you were detained, however. But I'm sure they'd do everything they could). It does really help to have someone to explain the customs and norms.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/tr...8nuNQLTriYGaGQPkFxZWTUxKn9Qqo2ZVqqZ5dxxvC0nLY

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[abdgeek]

A new travel advisory has been issued for China.


They are *not* saying to not go to China (that would be a level 3 advisory, and this is level 2) but they are advising using caution while you are there, because there's been a large increase of "exit bans" where US citizens are being detained an not allowed to leave China. And honestly, as welcoming as the Chinese people are, being cautious in China is never a bad idea. I would never go without someone like ABD as a buffer. (Not that they could do much of anything if you were detained, however. But I'm sure they'd do everything they could). It does really help to have someone to explain the customs and norms.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/tr...8nuNQLTriYGaGQPkFxZWTUxKn9Qqo2ZVqqZ5dxxvC0nLY

Sayhello

I had a family member who shared the original Business Insider article with me about a month ago. I called ABD to see if they had any pearls of wisdom or if they were cancelling the China ABD. They said no and that they had not experienced any problems with people going on the ABD or to Disneyland.

To say I’m upset that this advisory is happening the year I finally have the China ABD booked is putting it mildly. While I’m not anticipating any issues, I do try to abide by the State Department travel advisories. The original article also listed other countries that had a level two travel advisory and I was surprised to see countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom on it. Really? The other places listed were Algeria, Antarctica, Belgium, France, Denmark, and Myanmar.

 

[sayhello]

I had a family member who shared the original Business Insider article with me about a month ago. I called ABD to see if they had any pearls of wisdom or if they were cancelling the China ABD. They said no and that they had not experienced any problems with people going on the ABD or to Disneyland.

To say I’m upset that this advisory is happening the year I finally have the China ABD booked is putting it mildly. While I’m not anticipating any issues, I do try to abide by the State Department travel advisories. The original article also listed other countries that had a level two travel advisory and I was surprised to see countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom on it. Really? The other places listed were Algeria, Antarctica, Belgium, France, Denmark, and Myanmar.

I checked, and the level 2 advisories for Germany, the UK and France are due to the terrorism increase they've seen in those countries. It's not for anything the government is doing to tourists.

I can totally understand being upset that this happened the year you booked the China ABD. I'd be upset, too. But I'm sure ABD would not be going if they thought there was a threat to you. You just need to be aware that sending emails, posting on facebook and other social media (like here) should be done cautiously. Save any and all complaints about *anything* until after you get back. It's a terrible shame, but that's the way it is.

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

I had a family member who shared the original Business Insider article with me about a month ago. I called ABD to see if they had any pearls of wisdom or if they were cancelling the China ABD. They said no and that they had not experienced any problems with people going on the ABD or to Disneyland.

To say I’m upset that this advisory is happening the year I finally have the China ABD booked is putting it mildly. While I’m not anticipating any issues, I do try to abide by the State Department travel advisories. The original article also listed other countries that had a level two travel advisory and I was surprised to see countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom on it. Really? The other places listed were Algeria, Antarctica, Belgium, France, Denmark, and Myanmar.

There are more... almost everywhere we are traveling in Africa this year has a level 2 on it. To say I'm nervous would be putting it mildly but every day nothing happens is giving me courage to go. It's like my fear of flying... the odds are so low and hundreds of thousands of people fly every day with no issues. I'm fairly certain China was already at a level 2 before this current statement as well, if that helps at all. I'm not seeing archived notices directly on the embassy site but fairly certain it used to read the same as this one from Jan 2018: https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=23220 - we traveled there at the end of last year on our own and I was already worried about being detained due to the warning on the embassy site. If anything were raised to a level 3 however I'd certainly be changing my plans.

I checked, and the level 2 advisories for Germany, the UK and France are due to the terrorism increase they've seen in those countries. It's not for anything the government is doing to tourists.

I can totally understand being upset that this happened the year you booked the China ABD. I'd be upset, too. But I'm sure ABD would not be going if they thought there was a threat to you. You just need to be aware that sending emails, posting on facebook and other social media (like here) should be done cautiously. Save any and all complaints about *anything* until after you get back. It's a terrible shame, but that's the way it is.

Sayhello

I felt the same. While it was tempting to probe our guides we felt it was much safer for everyone to keep our topics on how things operate without expressing opinions on it until we got home. Social media posts were all happy go lucky pictures (ok ok maybe I did post about the shoving once or twice but that can happen anywhere) and thankfully we didn't have any issues.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

As a Canadian, and given what has happened to a few Canadians in China over the past few months, I'd be more than a bit worried about traveling to China currently. I believe the Canadian government warning says that China has been exercising arbitrary laws (i.e jaywalking) against Canadians and to be cautious when traveling there. I don't believe that China has been exercising the same harshness towards US citizens....yet.

 

[DVC Doc]

As a Canadian, and given what has happened to a few Canadians in China over the past few months, I'd be more than a bit worried about traveling to China currently. I believe the Canadian government warning says that China has been exercising arbitrary laws (i.e jaywalking) against Canadians and to be cautious when traveling there. I don't believe that China has been exercising the same harshness towards US citizens....yet.

Really? Whenever I travel abroad I usually tell people I’m Canadian so I get treated better!

These travel warnings are really for Chinese-Americans; US citizens not from an Asian ancestry have little to be concerned about on top of the existing travel advisory.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Really? Whenever I travel abroad I usually tell people I’m Canadian so I get treated better!

These travel warnings are really for Chinese-Americans; US citizens not from an Asian ancestry have little to be concerned about on top of the existing travel advisory.

How to put this... Are Americans/Canadians (etc) being “targeted” based on looks, their name,...? (I’m Native but am often mistaken for being Asian. I have kind of a racially ambiguous look where people tend to think I am whatever they are.)

 

[sayhello]

How to put this... Are Americans/Canadians (etc) being “targeted” based on looks, their name,...? (I’m Native but am often mistaken for being Asian. I have kind of a racially ambiguous look where people tend to think I am whatever they are.)

From what I can tell, the big problem at the moment is Canadians. And China knows exactly where you are from. They keep a very close tab on everyone visiting China.

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