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China urges travelers to avoid Seattle airport after 20 scholars were denied entry to US

By Associated Press
Published  April 16, 2026 2:48pm PDT
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Associated Press

The Brief

    • China is warning its citizens to be cautious and consider avoiding entry into the U.S. through Seattle-Tacoma Airport.
    • The advisory follows reports that about 20 Chinese scholars were denied entry after being "unreasonably inspected."
    • U.S. officials have not yet responded, and details about the incident remain unclear.

SEATTLE - Chinese government officials are encouraging travelers to be wary and avoid entering the United States through Seattle, citing a pattern of continual harassment by U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.

About 20 Chinese scholars with visas flew through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recently to attend an academic conference, but China Consular Affairs said in a post on X that the academics were "unreasonably inspected" by CBP personnel and refused entry.

China US Travel Advisory

FILE - A traveler walks by a security checkpoint at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Nov. 6, 2025, in SeaTac, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

Emails seeking more information and comment were sent Thursday to spokespersons for the federal agency, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and its consulate in San Francisco.

Since Chinese scholars have been continuously harassed at the airport, the foreign ministry and the embassy urged citizens with plans to visit the U.S. to do so with a mindset of safety and security and to avoid the Seattle airport, the post said.

The foreign ministry also urged travelers from China to become versed with U.S. entry regulations and be prepared.

"If you encounter questioning from U.S. enforcement personnel, you should deal with it calmly and rationally," according to a translation of the tweet.

Seattle ranked as the sixth largest metro area in the nation for Chinese population in 2019 with about 166,000 residents, according to the Pew Research Center.

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The Source: Information in this story came from the Associated Press.

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