Beijing imposes exit bans on foreign nationals as a coercion tool

China is barring a U.S. citizen who works for the Department of Commerce from leaving the country after he traveled there to visit relatives—the latest instance of Beijing’s controversial use of exit bans on foreign nationals.

The Chinese-American man, an employee of the Commerce Department’s Patent and Trademark Office, has been blocked from leaving China after he allegedly failed to disclose his government job on his visa application, individuals familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.

The man, a U.S. Army veteran, has been held in China “for months,” according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. He was initially stopped in the southwestern city of Chengdu and later traveled to Beijing with a U.S. official, though his current whereabouts are unknown.

The move, which comes amid geopolitical tensions and an ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing, is the latest in China’s long-standing practice of using travel restrictions as a coercive tool against foreign nationals. Several dozen Americans are under Chinese exit bans, “often without a clear and transparent process for resolution,” the State Department told the Washington Post.

Under Chinese law, exit bans require a low threshold and can be “issued by local courts in civil or commercial disputes without police involvement,” the Post reported. In recent weeks, Wells Fargo executive Chenyue Mao, a Shanghai-born U.S. citizen, has also been banned from leaving China, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The State Department said in a statement to the Post that “we track these cases closely, and have raised our concern with Chinese authorities about the well being of our citizens and the impact these arbitrary exit bans have on our bilateral relations and urged them to immediately allow impacted U.S. citizens to return home.”

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., said he is unaware of the case, adding, “China always welcomes foreign citizens, including those of the United States, to come to China and guarantees their safety and legitimate rights and interests in China in accordance with the law.”

Rep. John Moolenaar (R., Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said he is “gravely concerned by what appears to be another case of CCP hostage diplomacy.”

“This is a tactic, not a coincidence—and it’s unacceptable,” Moolenaar continued. “The freedom of all Americans must remain a top priority and this is not the only American being unjustly detained by China.”