The Chinese government has blocked a US federal employee from leaving China, the US state department has confirmed.
The federal employee works for the US Patent and Trademark Office, and was visiting China in a personal capacity, according to the state department. “We are tracking this case very closely and are engaged with Chinese officials to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson said.
Chinese authorities confirmed that another American, Wells Fargo banker, Chenyue Mao, had also been blocked from leaving. Both individuals have been subjected to an “exit ban”.
Exit bans are a controversial mechanism used by the Chinese government to bar both Chinese citizens and foreigners from leaving, for reasons ranging from criminal investigations to unsettled civil disputes, but is also used as a leverage tool in diplomatic disputes.
The exact reasons for the federal employee’s exit ban are unclear, but the Washington Post had previously reported that the worker, whose identity has not been released, was stopped from leaving the country after he failed to disclose his government employment on the visa application. He reportedly had also served in the US Army.
It has been reported as the first time a US government employee has been affected.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Guo Jiakun, said he had “no details to share” about the case when asked at a regular press briefing on Monday. However, Guo did confirm the exit ban on Mao, saying she was involved in a criminal case and obliged to cooperate with an investigation.
“Chenyue Mao is involved in a criminal case currently being handled by Chinese law-enforcement authorities and is subject to exit restrictions in accordance with the law,” Guo said.
Wells Fargo has since banned all employees from travelling to China since Mao – a naturalised US citizen of Chinese descent – was stopped from leaving.
A 2023 report by Safeguard Defenders said that since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, “China has expanded the legal landscape for exit bans and increasingly used them, sometimes outside legal justification”.
Exit bans have been used against activists and journalists – including foreign correspondents – and family members of the people actually of interest to the Chinese government. In 2019 two American siblings were allowed to return home after three years trapped in China. Cynthia and Victor Liu were subject to an exit ban, despite not facing any criminal allegations. Their father, a former bank official and fugitive Liu Changming, was wanted in China to face fraud charges.
