A U.S. diplomat was dismissed on Wednesday after the State Department discovered he was romantically involved with a Chinese woman linked to the Chinese Communist Party, confirmed by Fox News.
President Donald Trump assessed the situation and sanctioned the diplomat’s dismissal, stated Tommy Pigott, a State Department principal deputy spokesperson. He mentioned the diplomat “admitted to hiding a romantic involvement with a Chinese national with known Chinese Communist Party connections.”
Pigott asserted, “Under Secretary Rubio’s guidance, we will uphold a zero-tolerance approach for any employee found compromising our nation’s security.”
In Beijing, a Chinese government spokesperson declined to comment on what he described as a domestic U.S. issue.Â
However, Guo Jiakun from the Foreign Ministry emphasized at a regular press briefing, according to The Associated Press, “I want to emphasize that we oppose creating divisions based on ideological differences and unjustly defaming China.”
In January, just before the Biden administration concluded, the U.S. government decided to prohibit American government employees in China from engaging in sexual or romantic relationships with Chinese citizens, as reported by the AP. This prohibition extended to contractors with security clearances and family members of American government personnel.
In May, the Trump administration heightened its monitoring of Chinese nationals studying at U.S. universities following several cases of students allegedly participating in covert activities, including espionage.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time that the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security planned to “aggressively revoke” student visas of Chinese nationals, “including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party.”
Donald Trump says 600,000 Chinese students could be allowed into the U.S. to study at its colleges pending a potential trade agreement with China. (Fox News)
However, the president’s push to open the door to 600,000 Chinese students in late August sparked backlash, with conservatives wondering why the administration was making the move. Trump said that he believed it was important to have Chinese students in the U.S., but that the country needed to be cautious and keep track of who was coming.
Fox News Digital reached out to Chinese government representatives for comment.
