U.S. diplomats in China subjected to anal swab for Covid-19, State Department says

U.S. diplomats in China have been subjected to anal swab testing for Covid-19, a State Department spokesperson confirmed Thursday, adding that a protest has been filed with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The United States had received assurances from China that the tests were carried out in error and that diplomatic personnel were exempt from this specific testing requirement, the spokesperson said.

“The Department is committed to ensuring the safety and security of American diplomats and their families while preserving their dignity, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, as well as other relevant provisions of diplomatic law,” said the spokesperson.

The story was first reported by the Washington Post.

However, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference Thursday that he had checked with his colleagues and as far as he knew, “China did never asked US diplomats stationed in China to undergo anal sampling tests. “

Some health experts say anal swab tests are more accurate than nasal and oral swabs at detecting traces of the virus.

Anal swabs could be more effective because traces of the virus remain in the feces longer than those in the respiratory tract, Beijing respiratory doctor Dr Li Tongzeng told Chinese public television last month.

Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday earlier this month, some Chinese cities used anal swab samples from people to check for potential infections during intensified screenings, after a wave of regional epidemics.

In mainland China, 89,864 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed since the start of the epidemic, while the death toll has remained unchanged for some time at 4,636 people, according to data from the country’s National Health Commission .

Relations between China and the United States have grown strained under former President Donald Trump who criticized the world’s second-largest economy on trade, the outbreak of the pandemic, Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong protesters and its minority Uyghur Muslim.

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President Joe Biden’s candidate for CIA director former Ambassador William Burns, 64, told a Senate committee on Wednesday that he considered competition with China – and the fight against its leadership “adversarial. and predator ”- as the key to US national security.

Biden spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone for the first time since taking office earlier this month.

The White House said in a statement at the time that Biden raised “fundamental concerns” about “Beijing’s” coercive and unfair economic practices, the crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights violations in Xinjiang and the increasingly assertive actions in the region, including towards Taiwan. “

The statement also said the two leaders discussed the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the “common challenges” of climate change and global health security.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Eric Baculinao contributed.