- By Anton Grillo
- (General Dispatch) – An unidentified official said that an unspecified number of U.S. diplomatic personnel were required to undergo anal coronavirus testing by Chinese authorities.
- “The State Department never agreed to this kind of testing and protested directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when we learned that some staff were subject to it,” a State Department spokesperson told VICE World News on Wednesday.” The unnamed State Department official told
- “We have instructed staff to decline this test if it is asked of them, as was done in the past.” The unnamed official finished
- The State Department assured that they were there to ensure and safeguard the dignity of U.S. diplomatic personnel and their families, so it was not appropriate to perform an anal coronavirus test.
- Undoubtedly this has been understood as one more provocation from China towards the United States for power struggles, actions like these will hardly improve diplomatic relations between both nations.
- The anal tests implemented by China have also not been well received by the population as they claim it is an invasion of individual privacy, and it is still not entirely clear how effective these samples are in diagnosing the virus.
- The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied any such testing had occurred and assured that it was a mistake so that American diplomatic personnel were released from the test, even though it is mandatory for travelers arriving in certain states of China.
- The indignation reigns in the U.S. government, which understands this action as a clear provocation against its representatives. So far President Joe Biden has not commented on the issue.
Additional Information:
Breitbart: Report: China Subjected U.S. Diplomats to Anal Coronavirus Tests
BBC: China denies requiring anal swabs from US diplomats
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