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Feds Investigating Chinese Spies' Return to US Ahead of COVID Travel Ban
 [Free Beacon] Intelligence officials are investigating why suspected Chinese spies returned to the United States on student and work visas at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to internal government documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.Hundreds of Chinese nationals are the subject of a federal probe after law enforcement officials flagged their travel at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese nationals returned to the United States earlier than expected in January 2020, often having modified their travel plans. Then-president Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting entry from non-citizens and residents from China on Jan. 31, 2020. The episode is recounted in an internal report that circulated among various national security and law enforcement agencies on June 3. That report surmises that the Chinese students returned to the United States earlier than expected in order to avoid future travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States recorded its first COVID-19 case on January 21, the same day a Chinese scientist said the virus could spread person to person. "The team examined 58,000 inbound Chinese F/J visa holders in the [Passenger Name Record] database and identified 396 individuals whose return travel was [scheduled] after January 2020 but had returned in January 2020," the report reads. Related: Chinese spies: 2021-06-05 High-Ranking Chinese Defector Working With DIA Has 'Direct Knowledge' of China's Bioweapons Program—and It's Very Bad Chinese spies: 2021-02-21 Huawei turns to pig farming as smartphone sales fall Chinese spies: 2021-02-10 Senegal Uncovers Jihadist Cell in East of Country Posted by: Besoeker 2021-06-16 |
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