1. WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Wednesday (16 October 2019) that it will soon require Chinese officials in the U.S. to notify the State Department ahead of any contacts they plan to have with American educators, researchers and local and state governments. The release of the new rules was accompanied by notices to American educational and research institutions and local governments informing them of the reporting requirement. The change is effective Wednesday. 2. The US restriction against Chinese officials leads to a ridiculous situation in Sino-US bilateral relations. (a) For example, if the Chinese president visits the US, he will have to report every of his movements and contacts with Donald Trump and other government officials to the US State Department. It looks like China has to enact similar tit-for-tat restriction requiring Donald Trump or any future US president to do the same ridiculous things during an official state visit to China. (b) Taking another example, the Chinese trade negotiator has to report to the US State Department about his trade negotiations with any of US counterpart. Similarly, China will have to enact similar tit-for-tat restriction requiring US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to report their trade negotiation with their Chinese counterpart to the Chinese Foreign Ministry when they are in China. 3. US diplomats are notorious for conducting secret meetings with dissidents and opposition leaders in every corner of the world. For instance, about 34 years ago an Asian minister had ridiculed a US diplomat for being "cheapskate" in giving a burger treat to a dissident leader in his country. Recently, a senior official from the US consulate's political section in Hong Kong had been photographed talking to student protest leaders in the lobby of a luxury hotel, indicating that US diplomats have finally shed their "cheapskate" image.
