US to Probe Reports of Swabs on Its Citizens Arriving in China [View all]
Source: Bloomberg
May 10, 2025 at 5:02 AM EDT
The US embassy in China said it received reports that American citizens are being subjected to “invasive medical testing” upon arrival in the country.
“We are looking into these reports,” the embassy in Beijing said in a response to a query by Bloomberg. “The U.S. Mission to China has no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens in China.”
A US citizen on a plane that arrived at Pudong International in Shanghai on May 2 told Bloomberg all foreign passport holders on the flight were corralled into an area after landing. A Chinese inspector scraped their tongues with a swab repeatedly, the person who was a former genetics researcher said, asking not to be identified for privacy reasons.
The passengers on the plane that was from the UK weren’t told why they were swabbed or what the samples would be used for, the person said. The Chinese Foreign Ministry didn’t respond for a request for comment sent outside of office hours Saturday.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-10/us-to-probe-reports-of-swabs-on-its-citizens-arriving-in-china?srnd=phx-politics
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