China urges U.S. to stop poisoning public support for bilateral ties

BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- China urges the United States to stop poisoning the public support for the bilateral ties, and correct its wrongdoing of harassing, interrogating, and deporting Chinese citizens without just cause, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The Washington Post recently published a special report on the interview with six Chinese students and two visiting scholars who were harassed, interrogated, and deported without just cause when entering the U.S. border. The report gave details on what happened to some of them and received much attention in the United States.

In response to a related query, spokesperson Lin Jian said China has repeatedly stated its solemn position on the U.S., without any just cause, harassing, interrogating, and deporting Chinese citizens, especially students and scholars.

The United States frequently adopts discriminatory, politically motivated and selective law enforcement against Chinese students, which severely violates the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of the persons concerned, disrupts normal cross-border travel between China and the United States, runs counter to the U.S. commitment to facilitating and supporting cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and contravenes the common aspiration of the two peoples in carrying out friendly exchanges, Lin said.

"We urge the United States to earnestly listen to the voice from various sectors in the two countries, stop poisoning the public support for the bilateral ties, correct its wrongdoing of harassing, interrogating, and deporting Chinese citizens without just cause, and thoroughly look into the cases to offer an explanation to the victims," Lin said.

China will continue to adopt resolute measures to safeguard the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese citizens, he added.