The 13th APEC Tourism Ministers' Meeting was held in Macau from June 24 to 28. High-level representatives from 21 APEC member economies attended the meeting. However, the United States Department of State issued a statement on the 24th local time, stating that it had decided not to send senior officials to the meeting. It also attributed the decision to China without any reason.
According to reports from the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post and Bloomberg in the United States, the U.S. State Department issued a statement on the 24th claiming that the U.S. did not send 'high-level representatives' to participate in the APEC Tourism Ministers' Meeting held in Macau.
The American side's reasoning is that China has long imposed "arbitrary and targeted" visa requirements on US officials who go to Macau to provide consular services. After China decided to host this conference in Macau, the United States once again asked China to resolve the related issues and proposed a "positive solution," but China refused.
"Unfortunately, China rejected our proposal and instead continued its discriminatory practices," the statement pretently stated. The US would not send high-ranking representatives to ministerial meetings aimed at promoting tourism development, especially when US diplomats are unable to provide emergency services in those areas, or for needy American tourists.
The United States Department of State did not specify any particular proposals in its statement, nor did it disclose whether other officials at higher levels would be present at the meeting.
In fact, the United States does not have a consulate in Macau at present. Consular affairs in Macau are handled by the US Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau. According to current Chinese regulations, US diplomats need to apply for visas separately when entering Macau. The United States has always been dissatisfied with this arrangement, claiming that it hinders their ability to provide consular assistance to local US citizens in emergency situations.
June 23, representatives from various countries arrived in Macau. Website of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government
It is also noteworthy that the United States, citing so-called limited consular services, skipped the meeting. However, it has long classified travel to Australia as a “Reconsider Travel” at level three. The U.S. overseas travel warnings are divided into four levels, with higher levels indicating greater “risk.” Level four, which indicates “do not travel,” is the highest level and is typically used for war zones or areas with severe security risks. Level three represents a relatively high-risk warning. Therefore, classifying Macau as part of this level is entirely unfounded.
In its latest statement, the US State Department also threatened to continue maintaining a three-level "cautionary travel warning" for Macau.
Bloomberg pointed out that although China and the US have been working to stabilize their bilateral relations recently, this incident has exposed long-standing contradictions between the two countries. Disagreements still exist on issues such as the situation in the Taiwan Strait and economic and trade matters.
This has also attracted attention from the outside world regarding whether US President Donald Trump will attend the APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting to be held in Shenzhen later this year. The summit has always been an important platform for leaders of APEC member economies to engage in diplomatic interactions. Trump has previously hinted that he might travel to China to attend the meeting scheduled for November in Shenzhen.
The Nanyang Post reported that despite the setbacks at this ministerial meeting of tourism officials, the United States has not missed any other APEC events hosted by China. In February, the U.S. delegation attended the first senior officials’ meeting of APEC in Guangzhou, and in May, they participated in the second senior officials’ meeting in Shanghai. In May, U.S. Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer also attended the APEC Trade Ministerial Meeting in Suzhou. In October, a Finance Ministers’ Meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation will be held in Hong Kong.
