China assails U.S. fingerprinting plans
Agence France-Presse
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
BEIJING Beijing on Wednesday denounced U.S. plans to fingerprint Chinese citizens applying for nonimmigrant visas, calling it a discriminatory move that infringed on human rights.
"This measure has caused strong dissatisfaction among the Chinese people," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its Web site, a day after it called off human rights talks with the United States.
Beijing suspended the dialogue after Washington announced that it would propose a resolution at a United Nations Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva to condemn China for rights abuses.
The Foreign Ministry statement said China had made "solemn representations" to Washington through diplomatic channels on the fingerprinting issue.
"They pointed out that this measure is discrimination against Chinese citizens," the statement said. "It has harmed the Chinese citizen's dignity and right to privacy. It is a method that infringes on their human rights."
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing began taking fingerprints on Monday of nonimmigrant visa applicants; other American consulates in China are scheduled to begin the process within the next few weeks.
The program was mandated by Congress in its Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002. According to the embassy, the two index fingers of a visa applicant are scanned electronically.
The electronic data is then stored in a database, which is made available to Department of Homeland Security immigration officers at ports of entry in the United States.
The embassy denied that China was being targeted and said that more than 70 American embassies and consulates worldwide had adopted the method, including several in Asia.
"This is not a China-specific issue," an embassy spokesman said. "This is a worldwide issue."
China, however, said the program would not be tolerated.
"The U.S. claims this measure is a global measure but many other countries' citizens do not have to do this, so this practice is discrimination and China cannot accept it," the Foreign Ministry said.
The United States "should change this as soon as possible," the ministry statement added, "or the Chinese side will retain the right to adopt an equal measure."
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