China urges U.S. to stop unwarranted interrogations of Chinese enterprise personnel

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- China urges the United States to stop unwarranted interrogations of personnel from Chinese enterprises, effectively implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, and ensure the normal and friendly exchanges between the two peoples, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday.

Recently, the U.S. law enforcement authorities have repeatedly interrogated and detained personnel from Chinese companies for extended periods before repatriating them, Lin said at a regular news briefing.

Their brutal law enforcement measures have severely infringed on the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese nationals, soured the atmosphere for the normal commercial cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, and violated the common understandings reached between the two presidents on strengthening economic and trade cooperation in Busan, the Republic of Korea, he said.

"China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to these moves," Lin said, urging the United States to take the Chinese concerns seriously and immediately stop the wrongdoing of its law enforcement authorities.

China will continue to take resolute measures to firmly protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese nationals, the spokesperson said. ■